US destroyers transit Strait of Hormuz as Washington commits to long-term mine response

NEW YORK - Two US Navy destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday to help commercial mariners stranded by Iranian sea mines, the US ambassador to the United Nations said, describing the deployment as part of a "defensive and humanitarian" mission Washington intends to sustain well beyond the current crisis.

US Ambassador Mike Waltz, speaking on a telephonic press briefing, outlined the scope of the assistance the US military would offer mariners under the US Central Command-led Project Freedom, which formally launched on Monday.

"There is a whole range of types of assistance we can provide these mariners, everything from intelligence on where things are located, where they're not, defensive capabilities, drones and imagery to help them navigate, coordination center and cell to provide the latest information," Waltz said, responding to a Rudaw journalist. 

"It is a defensive and humanitarian mechanism," he added, deferring further operational details to CENTCOM and its commander, Admiral Brad Cooper.

The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world's seaborne oil normally passes, has been largely impassable since the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28, prompting Tehran to mine the waterway and threaten passing vessels. The International Maritime Organization estimates around 20,000 seafarers have been stranded as a result. A ceasefire has held, unevenly, since early April.

Asked by Rudaw on whether the US effort was a short-term response or the basis for a lasting solution, Waltz said Washington was building a durable framework — which he called a "maritime freedom construct" — designed to outlast both the immediate crisis and the parallel nuclear negotiations with Tehran being mediated by Pakistan.

"We have ongoing negotiations over the status of Iran's nuclear program. That is the heart of the dispute right now," Waltz said. "But regardless of the timing of that, we now have an issue that a party to the conflict has thrown an international waterway with mines, and so that's unacceptable."

Waltz said the United States wanted the international community, alongside the Gulf states most directly affected, to declare the mining illegal, compel Iran to disclose the locations of mines it had laid, and authorize a multinational effort to clear the waterway. He said Iran in some cases may not know where its own mines are, calling that "even more reckless." Reports during the conflict have indicated Iranian forces lost track of some of the mines they planted.

The ambassador tied the operational deployment to a separate U.N. Security Council resolution that Washington is co-drafting with Bahrain and other Gulf Cooperation Council members, which would formalize those demands. The text builds on Resolution 2817, adopted in March with a record 136 co-sponsors, which condemned Iranian attacks on neighboring states. A narrower follow-on resolution focused on the strait was vetoed on April 7 by Russia and China.

Waltz said the longer-term objective was to set a precedent that no country could mine an international waterway, or impose tolls on global shipping, as leverage in a bilateral conflict.

"No nation can do this," he said.

The following are Rudaw's questions to Walts and his answers:

Rudaw: Project Freedom talks about guiding ships. What do—what does guiding exactly entail? Is the United States providing direct naval escorts, real time coordination only, or a combination of both, and which categories of vessels or nationalities qualify for assistance? And my second question is whether this is just a short term thing. I know you said you were working on a Security Council resolution, but can this be part of a long term solution? Thank you.

Ambassador Mike Waltz: I'll defer the operational details to CENTCOM. I believe Admiral Cooper is having a briefing very soon, if he's not already had it, the commander of CENTCOM.

Just broadly speaking, there is a whole range of types of assistance we can provide these mariners, everything from intelligence on where things are located, where they're not, defensive capabilities, drones and imagery to help help them navigate, Coordination Center and sell to provide the latest information.

So there's a number of things that will provide, and and I believe two of our destroyers transited the street this morning to help with those, with a number of those issues. But I want to be clear, it is a defensive and humanitarian mechanism.

Rudaw: I was hoping Mr. Ambassador, if you could talk a little more about how this can be sustainable, like, can it? Can this be part of a longer term solution?

Ambassador Waltz: Well, that's part of what you've seen with our maritime freedom construct. We are establishing a longer term framework. And again, that's also part of this resolution.

We have ongoing negotiations over the status of Iran's nuclear program. That is the heart of the dispute right now. But regardless of the timing of that, we now have an issue that a party to the conflict has sawn an international waterway with mine, and so that's unacceptable.

We want the international community to join us, and the Gulf nations, who are the most directly affected, in declaring that is unacceptable and illegal, calling on Iran to notify the world where these mines are located, to the extent they know, because we believe in some cases, they don't know, which is even more reckless, and and then to provide the authorization to help us clean—to help us clear those waterways, clean that up, and make it safe for innocent, civilian international groups.

So all of those pieces are part of a long term construct, and then, you know, obviously going forward, we need to set the precedent that no nation can do this.

Great. Thank you so much.