Normal commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is not expected to fully resume until Iranian-laid naval mines are cleared from key shipping lanes, according to the Guardian, The New York Times, NPR, and others.
Despite the mines, President Donald Trump said that the chokepoint has been reopened under a U.S.–Iran ceasefire framework.
The Guardian reported that roughly 80 naval mines remain in or near primary transit routes.
Naval and maritime authorities describe clearance as a slow, high-risk process requiring specialized mine-countermeasure vessels and step-by-step sweeping operations before commercial shipping can safely return to normal levels.
“The main route … through the middle of the Strait of Hormuz, that’s closed, that’s dangerous,” said Phil Belcher, marine director at Intertanko, the tanker owners' association, according to the Guardian.
It also said that almost 600 vessels are believed to still be in the Gulf, where they have been anchored since February, creating a significant backlog that will take time to clear even after conditions improve in spite of upbeat projections.
Richard Meade, editor-in-chief at maritime data provider Lloyd’s List, said, “We are in uncharted territory. I don’t think [shipping in the strait] is getting back to normal this year,” according to the Guardian report.
Newsmax reported that Iranian messaging on Hormuz has remained inconsistent even in the aftermath of the ceasefire announcement.
The Foreign Ministry has insisted that the strait is not closed and that maritime traffic is continuing normally.
Yet at the same time, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued more hardline statements suggesting conditional control and tighter enforcement over transit.
According to the New York Post, an IRGC statement read over maritime radio channels prior to the Foreign Ministry one warned vessels about entering the strait.
“Since Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon, the complete lifting of the naval blockade, and the withdrawal of American terrorist forces from the Persian Gulf and the region are among the main conditions of the agreement between Iran and the United States, the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until these conditions are met,” that Revolutionary Guards statement said, as reported by the Post. “All ships are requested, for the sake of their security and safety, not to approach the Strait of Hormuz.
"Any vessel that defies this directive will be targeted.”
That operational reality stands in contrast with the Trump administration’s framing of the situation.
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