Iran Publishes Chart Showing It May Have Put Sea Mines in Strait of Hormuz as Shaky Ceasefire Holds
Semiofficial news agencies in Iran published a chart Thursday suggesting the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard put sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz during the war, in a message that may be intended to pressure the US as uncertainty hangs over a days-old two-week ceasefire and further negotiations are expected in Pakistan.
The shaky ceasefire has been largely holding between the US, Israel and Iran, although Tehran and Washington have offered vastly different explanations of the initial terms, The Associated Press said.
Israel insists the agreement does not apply to their war against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and have escalated deadly strikes there, leading Iran to claim it is violating the deal. Meanwhile, Iran said it had won agreement that it would control the Strait of Hormuz, charge tolls and enrich uranium — while Trump said the deal called for the strait to be reopened and Iran to hand over its uranium stockpile.
The chart of the Strait of Hormuz was released by the ISNA news agency, as well as Tasnim, which is believed to be close to the Guard. They showed a large circle marked “danger zone” in Farsi over the Traffic Separation Scheme, which was the route ships take through the strait, the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf through which 20% of all oil and natural gas traded once passed.
The chart suggested ships travel further north through waters closer to Iran’s mainland near Larak Island, a route that some ships were observed taking during the war. It was dated from Feb. 28 until Thursday, April 9, and it was unclear if the Guard had cleared any mining on the route since then.
Oil rose again to above $97 a barrel and Asian stocks were trading lower Thursday on skepticism over the ceasefire. Brent crude, the international standard, was up 2.9% to $97.46 per barrel. It had fallen briefly to below $92 following the temporary ceasefire announcement. Benchmark US crude was 3.7% higher Thursday at $97.94 per barrel.
Ship-tracking data from Kpler showed only four vessels with their Automatic Identification System trackers on passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, the first day of the ceasefire. However, that does not include so-called “dark fleet” vessels, which travel with their AIS trackers turned off. Many of those “dark fleet” ships carry sanctioned Iranian crude oil out to the open market.
US President Donald Trump posted a statement insisting that his surge of warships and troops will remain around Iran “until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with.”
