The Financial Times newspaper revealed that the US Navy carried out, over a period of four months, a secret operation to clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz, during which it used Navy SEAL divers, robotic boats, and specialized submersible vehicles, while most of the missions were carried out at night and underwater.
The newspaper, citing people familiar with the operation, said that the mission aimed to clear sea lanes after mines became one of the most prominent factors deterring ships from using the strait since the outbreak of war in February.
Since the beginning of the war, Tehran has claimed that it planted mines in international and Omani waters inside the strait, while the International Maritime Organization said in June that about 80 mines were placed in vital shipping lanes.
US President Donald Trump announced last week that “all mines” in the international waters of the Strait had been removed or detonated, which was confirmed by US forces, despite doubts from shipowners and security advisors that the entire Strait had become free of mines.
According to the Financial Times, US Navy divers worked in small teams that used inflatable boats and located mines with the help of robotic boats and submersible vehicles equipped with high-precision towed sonar arrays.
Bill Hamblett, a retired captain in the US Navy, said that the most dangerous stage began after locating the mine, when a diver descended into the water and approached it to place an explosive charge and destroy it. No American losses were recorded directly related to this operation.
The newspaper reported that shipowners and security consultants believe that the southern half of the strait near the Omani coast, which is the route that the United States instructs ships to use, has actually been cleared, but they doubt whether the entire strait is free of mines.
The risk of the presence of mines, even without actual confirmation, is enough to make shipping companies hesitant and raise insurance costs to levels up to ten times what they were before the war, which could raise the cost of insuring a giant tanker to about ten million dollars.
Tehran rejected the American narrative regarding mine clearance. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said in late August that “no one except Iran knows the locations of these mines.”
On the other hand, the Joint Maritime Information Center, run by the US Navy, said that the danger of drifting or unregistered mines still exists.
The newspaper added that the biggest challenge is not limited to removing existing mines, but also includes preventing their re-planting. On August 30, the US military struck Iranian missile platforms that it said were preparing to launch sea mines into the strait.
Hamblett said that Tehran's "strongest card" is to convince the world that it is capable of threatening the Strait and controlling it, while Washington does not need to prove the removal of every mine as much as it needs to restore a sufficient amount of confidence to allow navigation to resume.
The Iranian government announced, on Sunday, doubling the price of gasoline sold outside subsidized quotas to 10,000 tomans per liter as of Tuesday dawn, in the latest measure to confront the fuel crisis that worsened during the war and the US naval blockade.
Government spokeswoman Fatima Mohajerani said that the price of gasoline using gas station cards will rise from five thousand to 10 thousand tomans per liter, while the subsidized monthly rations will remain unchanged.
Car owners receive 60 liters per month at a price of 1,500 tomans per liter, followed by a second share of 50 liters at a price of three thousand tomans. Consumers resort to station cards with the higher price when purchasing fuel outside those quotas.
Mohajerani explained that government meetings discussed different prices, before approving 10,000 tomans based on a previous pledge by President Masoud Pezeshkian. She added that the revenues resulting from the increase will be allocated to support the livelihood of residents.
Hours before the announcement, Pezeshkian chaired a government meeting to manage fuel consumption, during which he demanded that all stages of decision-making in this file be accompanied by an “accurate and transparent” media plan.
He announced that he would personally meet with representatives of truck and taxi drivers' unions and online transportation platforms to explain the new policies and discuss their concerns.
The meeting discussed non-price measures, including regulating fuel cards, closing smuggling routes, monitoring small refineries, linking fuel quotas to actual consumption, improving public transportation, and reducing the consumption of old and high-consumption vehicles.
Gasoline shortage
Iran, one of the world's largest oil producers, faces a gasoline shortage that worsened during the war due to damage to the energy sector and the disruption of imports under the weight of the US naval blockade.
During August, Iranian officials estimated the deficit ranged between 14 and 20 million liters per day. Pezeshkian said last month that the blockade had closed roads used to bring goods into the country, and that the government lacked the resources to import gasoline.
The government had begun reducing subsidized fuel during the war, reducing the monthly quota at the second price, which was three thousand tomans, from 100 liters to 70 liters, then to 50 litres, while keeping the basic quota of 60 liters at 1,500 tomans.
On August 18, Parliament Speaker Muhammad Baqir Qalibaf opposed increasing gasoline prices, considering that raising them in wartime conditions is “not a calculated measure,” and calling for reducing consumption in a way that achieves “the greatest amount of justice and the least amount of dissatisfaction” among the population.
Qalibaf warned that Iran's opponents may exploit the living pressures to cause unrest, while the country faces high inflation and a sharp decline in the value of the rial.
Gasoline prices are particularly sensitive in Iran. A sudden price increase in November 2019 sparked widespread protests across the country, followed by a bloody security crackdown.
Two informed sources told Reuters today (Sunday) that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the removal of settlement outposts established without a permit in the West Bank, in light of American pressure on Israel to confront settler attacks on the Palestinians.
The two sources added that the decision applies to settlement outposts established by settlers without official approval from the state. These outposts usually consist of ready-made mobile housing units and are inhabited by a limited number of settlers. Israel has demolished such outposts from time to time, while it officially recognized others, which allowed it to obtain government funding.
It is not yet clear when the operation will begin. The United Nations and most governments consider all Israeli settlements illegal under international law, and the West Bank is considered occupied territory under military control. Israel says the territories are disputed, not occupied.
American pressure
The two sources said that Netanyahu issued the order to evacuate the unauthorized settlement outposts in response to pressure from the United States, Israel's closest ally.
Yesterday, the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, denounced the violent settlers, describing them as “terrorists,” and called for strict penalties against them after a meeting with a number of Palestinian Americans in a Palestinian town in the West Bank.
The Israeli website Ynet reported earlier that the instructions target about 100 settlement outposts in the occupied territories.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office, nor the Israeli army, which usually participates in removing settlement outposts in the West Bank, have not yet responded to a request for comment.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, in response to a question during a conference in Jerusalem regarding the Ynet report, that Netanyahu issued “instructions to evacuate places established in Areas A and B,” referring to parts of the West Bank inhabited by most Palestinians.
Under the Oslo Accords, which were transitional agreements concluded in the 1990s between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, the West Bank was divided into three areas: A, B, and C.
Smotrich, who is himself a settler and supervised settlement housing projects and granted official recognition to homes built illegally, said that despite his opposition to Netanyahu’s decision, the government has made great progress in expanding settlement in Area C.
Hundreds of hotspots
According to the Israeli organization "Peace Now", which opposes settlement expansion and supports the two-state solution, there are 340 settlement outposts in the West Bank, in addition to 146 settlements officially recognized by the Israeli government.
Last month, Israeli settlers besieged Palestinian homes in a nearby village, including a home owned by a Palestinian-American, before the Israeli army forced them to leave the area. The town's Palestinian residents said they still face harassment and intimidation from Israeli settlers.
The Israeli government has condemned acts of violence committed by settlers, but their perpetrators are rarely arrested, and their prosecution is even less common.
Huckabee said yesterday that it is in Israel's own interest to take action against settlers who commit what he described as "criminal behavior and terrorism."
