Iranian forces loaded naval mines onto ships in the Persian Gulf during last month’s ongoing conflict, which heightened concerns in Washington. At that time, Iran also intensified attacks on various Israeli locations, with the success rate of those attacks increasing over time.The United States discovered that Tehran was preparing to blockade the Strait of Hormuz. According to two US officials, American intelligence detected these undisclosed preparations early on. Shortly after Israel began initial missile strikes on Iran on June 13, Iran started reinforcing its presence in the Persian Gulf.The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the intelligence, told Reuters that although the mines were loaded, they were not deployed into the strait. However, this move signaled Tehran’s willingness to potentially disrupt one of the world’s busiest shipping routes. Deploying the mines could have escalated the conflict and severely impacted global trade.About one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas shipments pass through the Strait of Hormuz; a blockade would have driven global fuel prices up significantly.Since the US bombed three key Iranian nuclear facilities in an effort to cripple Tehran’s nuclear program on June 22, global oil prices have dropped by over 10% — partly because the conflict has not yet caused major disruptions to oil shipments.Following the US strikes on its nuclear sites, Iran’s parliament reportedly backed a move to close the strait. However, that decision was not binding; the final authority rests with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. While Iran has threatened for years to shut the strait, it has never acted on those threats.Reuters could not determine exactly when Tehran loaded the mines during the Israel-Iran air war. If the conflict had escalated further, those mines could have blocked vital shipping lanes.It is also unclear whether the mines have since been removed.Sources did not disclose to Reuters how the US learned about the mines on Iranian ships. Such intelligence is usually gathered through satellite imagery, covert human sources, or a combination of both.
