US Destroyers Reportedly Enter Strait of Hormuz
(Mass Communication Specialist 3rd class Ismael Martinez/U.S. Navy via AP, File)
Diplomatic discussions between Iran and the United States were underway in Pakistan on Saturday, while events were also unfolding in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to U.S. officials, two Navy destroyers moved through the strategic waterway, marking the first time American warships have passed through the strait since the conflict began, the Wall Street Journal reported. U.S. Central Command stated that the ships were part of an operation aimed at starting efforts to clear naval mines from the area. The New York Times reported that during the mission, one of the destroyers shot down an Iranian surveillance drone that approached the vessels.
Iranian officials offered a sharply different version of events. A spokesperson for Iran’s military said the American ships never actually entered the strait and maintained that Iran still has control over the vital shipping route, which normally carries about 20 percent of the world’s oil supply. A semiofficial Iranian news outlet also reported that there was currently “no traffic” in the strait and claimed Iran had denied passage to a U.S. destroyer.
U.S. officials disputed those claims, saying the two destroyers did move through the Strait of Hormuz before leaving the area and returning to the Gulf of Oman.
On Saturday, President Trump told reporters that American forces were actively working to remove mines from the waterway. He said, “We have minesweepers out there—we’re sweeping the strait,” according to CBS News.
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