President Trump on Saturday said “many countries” will send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz “open and safe” – as experts said it could take months to clear the critical passage using robots, lasers, and anti-mine devices.
“We have already destroyed 100% of Iran’s Military capability, but it’s easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close-range missile somewhere along, or in, this Waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are,” he wrote on his Truth Social.
China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the UK will “hopefully” be sending their vessels, so the Strait “will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated,” he added.
“In the meantime, United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian Boats and Ships out of the water,” he wrote. “One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!”
A French official told The Post Saturday that its warships would eventually arrive.
In the Strait, “the conditions are not currently in place as it remains an active theater of war,” the official said. “This will take several weeks, but work has been launched with various countries on the possibility of escorting vessels with military assets.”
Trump’s comments came as Iran declared all countries except the US and Israel may pass through the Strait of Hormuz, in a desperate attempt at coalition-busting less than a day after the US bombed military targets on its oil-critical Kharg Island.
“As a matter of fact, the Strait of Hormuz is open,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
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“It is only closed to the tankers and ships belong[ing] to our enemies, to those who are attacking us and their allies. Others are free to pass,” Araghchi told MS NOW.
Trump has threatened to destroy Iran’s oil infrastructure on Kharg Island energy hub — through which 90% of its oil exports pass — if it refuses to allow safe passage.
Araghchi noted that many ships “prefer” not to undertake the journey due to “security concerns,” but insisted, “this has nothing to do with us.”
“And I can say that the Strait is not closed, but it is only closed to American, Israeli, you know, ships and tankers, and not to others.”
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Two Indian-flagged tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas crossed the Strait, Reuters reported Saturday.
“They crossed the Strait of Hormuz safely early this morning and are en route to India,” Rajesh Kumar Sinha, the minister of ports and shipping in New Delhi, said.
Sixteen ships operating in and around the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz have been attacked since the war started Feb. 28 , according to UK Maritime Trade Operations.
The threat of Iranian attacks has brought shipping through the vital passageway to a halt — cutting off 27% of the world’s maritime oil and gas.
Analysts believe the US has the tools and capacity to clear the Strait despite Iran’s tactics, through high-tech hardware and what could be dangerous maneuvers.
If Iran mines the Strait, divers in some cases would have to undertake the “time-consuming and dangerous task” of carefully placing charges to blow them up individually, a 2025 Congressional Research Service report found. Underwater robots also would come into play, it said.
Reopening the Strait could take “days, weeks, or perhaps months,” according to the report, which was updated last week. The economic fallout could be unlike anything the world has ever seen, congressional analysts said.
“Mines have sunk or damaged more US warships since the end of World War II than any other weapon system – bar none,” said Dr. Steven Wills of the Center for Maritime Strategy.
The military’s Bahrain-based Task Force 52 is focused on the problem. Iran’s stockpile includes weapons based on World War II-era spiked mines, floating mines attached to a tether, and others that lurk on the bottom.
The US Navy has a quartet of Littoral Combat Ships, designed to run close to shore, in the region, Wills noted. Some carry helicopters equipped with special laser mine detection systems. They can also take out individual mines with small explosives or unmanned ships.
