{"id":8035,"date":"2026-04-23T20:57:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T15:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/?p=8035"},"modified":"2026-04-23T20:57:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T15:57:30","slug":"us-defence-officials-say-clearing-mines-from-strait-of-hormuz-could-take-six-months-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/2026\/04\/23\/us-defence-officials-say-clearing-mines-from-strait-of-hormuz-could-take-six-months-report","title":{"rendered":"US Defence officials say clearing mines from Strait of Hormuz could take six months: report"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Washington (Web Desk\/Agencies): US defence officials have reportedly briefed members of Congress on an intelligence assessment suggesting that, in an extreme scenario, clearing the Strait of Hormuz of naval mines could take up to six months if such mines were deployed by Iranian forces, according to The Washington Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The closed-door briefing, held on Tuesday for the House Armed Services Committee, also indicated that any large-scale mine-clearing operation would likely begin only after the conclusion of the ongoing US-Israel conflict with Iran.<\/p>\n

Analysts warned that such a situation could place sustained pressure on global energy markets, potentially keeping oil and fuel prices elevated through the US midterm election period.<\/p>\n

The assessment cited in the report also estimated that Iranian forces may have deployed around 20 or more naval mines near the strategic waterway. Some of these mines are believed to have been laid using GPS-assisted remote methods, making detection and removal more complex for US forces.<\/p>\n

Other mines were reportedly placed in a more traditional manner using small boats operated by Iranian personnel. A senior defence official told lawmakers that dispersal of such devices could significantly complicate clearance efforts.<\/p>\n

However, the Pentagon rejected the interpretation of the briefing as presented in media reports. Spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed that the issue was discussed in a classified session but criticized how it was being portrayed publicly.<\/p>\n

He stated that a six-month closure of the Strait of Hormuz was \u201can impossibility and completely unacceptable\u201d to the Defence Secretary, while also stressing that a single assessment does not determine feasibility. No alternative timeline for clearance operations was provided.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump told Fox News on Wednesday that there is \u201cno time frame\u201d for ending the ongoing US-Israel conflict with Iran, highlighting continued uncertainty over the duration of regional tensions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Washington (Web Desk\/Agencies): US defence officials have reportedly briefed members of Congress on an intelligence assessment suggesting that, in an extreme scenario, clearing the Strait of Hormuz of naval mines could take up to six months if such mines were deployed by Iranian forces, according to The Washington Post. The closed-door briefing, held on Tuesday …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":8036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[160,2294],"class_list":["post-8035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-headline","tag-youdigital"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8035"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8037,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8035\/revisions\/8037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}