Trump claims US starts ‘clearing out’ Strait of Hormuz

WASHINGTON, April 11. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump has said that the United States is starting "clearing out" the Strait of Hormuz to ensure free navigation. "We’re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and many others. Incredibly, they don’t have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves," he said on Truth Social without explaining exactly what steps the US intends to take. Trump also said there is a danger of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz being damaged with sea mines. He claimed that 28 Iranian mine-laying boats had been sunk. Earlier correspondent for American portal Axios and Channel 12 of Israeli television Barak Ravid quoted American official sources as saying that several US Navy ships had passed through Hormuz on Saturday without coordination with Iran. On February 28, the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran, hitting major Iranian cities, including Tehran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps retaliated with sweeping attacks on Israel. US military installations in Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were also pummeled. Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz to the ships associated with the United States, Israel and the countries that supported aggression against the Islamic Republic. During the conflict, a number of tankers were attacked for passing through the strait without Tehran’s permission. On March 25, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iran had allowed the passage through the strait to the friendly countries, including Russia, India, Iraq, China and Pakistan.