The United States has launched a large mine clearance operation in the Strait of Hormuz

By Anthony Marcus for Eurasia Business News, April 11, 2026. Article n°2085

The U.S. Central Command announced that two guided-missile destroyers entered the Strait of Hormuz to begin setting conditions for a mine-clearing mission, with additional assets such as underwater drones expected to join.

CENTCOM says the goal is to ensure the strait is clear of sea mines and to reopen a safe passage for commercial shipping; the statement also says the destroyers transited the strait and operated in the Arabian Gulf as part of that effort.

The U.S. Navy destroyers USS Frank E. Peterson and USS Michael Murphy “passed through the Strait of Hormuz and embarked on operations in the Persian Gulf as part of a broader mission to ensure that the strait is completely cleared of sea mines previously laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” the report said.

“Today we have begun the process of creating a new passage and will soon share this safe route with the maritime industry to facilitate the free movement of trade,” said CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper. In the coming days, additional US forces, including underwater drones, will join the demining, the Central Command added.

This is a major escalation in maritime security operations around a chokepoint that handles a large share of global oil flows, so the immediate market impact is usually higher shipping risk premium and more attention on tanker schedules.

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The war between Iran, Israel and the United States illustrates the integration of economic pressure with military escalation. Financial sanctions, payment system exclusion, and export controls by the U.S. and its allies now operate as components of a broader strategic toolkit. On the other side, Iran closed the Straits of Hormuz and has targeted the oil tankers trying to navigate through it, provoking an oil price crisis worldwide.

This war is the fifth major shock to the region since 1979, following the Iranian Revolution, the Iran–Iraq War, the first Gulf War and the US invasion of Iraq.

Peace talks began Saturday between the U.S. and Iran in Pakistan and continued into the early morning hours local time on Sunday.

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© Copyright 2026 – Eurasia Business News. Article no. 2085