Iran has laid at least a dozen mines in the Strait of Hormuz, US intelligence officials have claimed.
Some 20 per cent of the world’s oil is shipped through the narrow passageway, but the flow has been paralysed because of Iranian threats to tankers off its coast.
Now, US officials have reported that there are at least a dozen Maham 3 and Maham 7 Limpet Mines in the water, which will need careful extraction before safe travel can resume.
The Iranian-manufactured Maham 3 is a moored naval mine that uses magnetic sensors to detect nearby vessels without physical contact, while the Maham 7 Limpet Mine is a compact, high-explosive sticking mine.
The intelligence assessment, first reported by CBS, follows Donald Trump’s announcement of a five-day ceasefire on Iranian energy targets on Monday, after he said peace talks with the Islamic Republic were progressing.
The US president later declared he would “jointly control” the Strait of Hormuz with Iran, adding that he was talking with a “respected” Iranian leader who would be “exactly what we’re looking for”.
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The news initially prompted oil prices to fall by 10 per cent, as markets showed optimism for a resolution to the conflict.
However, senior Iranian regime figures said Mr Trump had “backed down”, adding that no negotiations had taken place.
They accused the US president of spreading “fake news” to “manipulate the financial and oil markets”, and air strikes on Israel and Gulf states continued overnight.
Despite the ceasefire on energy sites, senior US military officials are reportedly considering deploying a combat brigade from the army’s 82nd Airborne Division and some of its headquarters staff to the region.
The combat forces would come from the “Immediate Response Force,” a brigade of about 3,000 soldiers capable of deploying anywhere in the world within 18 hours, defence officials told the New York Times.
They added that these forces could be used to seize Kharg Island – an Iranian island in the Gulf which is the regime’s main oil export hub.
Another possibility being considered was an attack by the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit to seize the island.
It is understood that around 2,200 marines from the unit are set to enter the Middle East on Friday – when Mr Trump’s deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait expires.
2503 US Navy’s deployed carrier strike / amphibious ready groups
The marines – along with the USS Tripoli and USS New Orleans will move into Central Command control, and will probably take a few more days to reach the Strait itself.
On Monday, Mr Trump sought to paint Pete Hegseth, his defence secretary, as the person who pushed the US towards war.
“Pete, I think you were the first one to speak up and you said let’s do it because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon,” the US president said at a meeting in Tennessee.
Meanwhile, in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia had agreed to give the US access to its King Fahd Air Base, as it edged closer to joining the conflict in a more offensive role.
The move would reverse its long-held position that its sites could not be used to attack Iran.
Dr Pnina Shuker, of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, told The Telegraph: “It appears that in recent days, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain, have transitioned from a cautious posture of mainly warnings and diplomatic statements, to a more assertive posture, in response to the continuous direct Iranian strikes on their territory and critical infrastructure.
“This shift is characterised by permitting US forces to use regional bases for operations and Bahrain-led UN initiatives to authorise force for maritime protection.”
Dr Shuker added: “While these states initially sought to avoid a regional war, the persistent disruption of energy markets as well as tourism and attacks on civilian hubs like Dubai International Airport, have gradually led Gulf leaders to the realisation that they need to escalate their response in order to reduce the economic damage.”
On Tuesday morning, Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, was up 2.8 per cent at nearly $103 a barrel, after reports that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were considering joining the war.
However, Global Insight Journal, a social media account run by international relations specialists, reported on Tuesday morning that a supertanker carrying two million barrels of Iraqi crude oil had crossed the Strait of Hormuz.
If correct, this would be the first ship observed transporting Baghdad’s oil through the waterway.
Shipping title Lloyd’s List reported that traffic through the Strait was increasingly being diverted through a route dubbed the “Tehran Toll Booth”, where Revolutionary Guard officials were understood to be verifying details of vessels and charging a fee in some cases.