Chart shows Iran may have put sea mines in Strait of Hormuz

Iranian semiofficial agencies ISNA news agency and Tasnim reported Revolutionary Guard sea mine placement in the Strait of Hormuz, marking danger zones and alternate routes during war, raising tensions amid a fragile ceasefire and potential negotiations

Dubai: 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.

The reports came from the ISNA news agency, as well as Tasnim, which is believed to be close to the Guard.

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The chart showed a large circle marked “danger zone” in Farsi over the Traffic Separation Scheme, which was the route ships used to take through the strait. That was where the Guard allegedly put the mines.

It suggested that ships travel up north through waters closer to Iran’s mainland near Larak Island, a route that some ships were observed taking during the war.

The dates on the chart ran from Feb. 28 until Thursday, April 9.

It’s unclear if the Guard had cleared its alleged mining in the route. And it likely served as a pressure tactic as Iran, Israel and the United States now are in an uneasy, two-week ceasefire ahead of possible negotiations in Islamabad.