U.S. Declares Strait of Hormuz ‘Open for Business’ Despite Mines and Missile Buzz

KEY POINTS

•Iran attempted to close the Strait of Hormuz early in the conflict via naval mines, but their commander died in an Israeli airstrike.
•The U.S. military, with allies like the UAE, restored partial shipping by sweeping mines and providing air cover since the MOU collapse.
•Despite Iranian attacks, U.S. officials report increased tanker traffic and hopes to reach 60-70% of pre-war oil exports by September.

Since late February, Iran held the Strait of Hormuz hostage like it was the hottest poker hand ever, threatening ships with mines and missiles while Brent oil prices flirted with $126 a barrel. Enter Trump's playbook—naval divers, SEALs, drones, and private contractors performed a mine-sweeping combo bigger than a midseason Netflix splash. Notable milestones: 200 mine-like objects found, only 11 actual mines, and of those, just a handful decently deployed—basically the faker energy crisis. Iranian naval chief Alireza Tangsiri escalated drama before an Israeli airstrike snuffed him out, leaving Iran’s aim so bad only 2% of ships got hit in the last month. Meanwhile, Trump was busy tweeting that Iran’s begging for a deal while enforcing a blockade star-studded with UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and soon Saudi Arabia. All this chaos to secure oil routes and convince Iran that "background noise" talks with Oman don’t count—because who needs diplomacy when you've got drones and tweets?