Hegseth doesn't deny mine-clearing could take 6 months

Washington: President Donald Trump says the US Navy is clearing Iranian mines from the Strait of Hormuz, a vital sea route for oil shipments whose disruption is increasingly threatening the global economy.Sweeping for underwater explosives could take months despite a tenuous ceasefire between the United States and Iran in the weekslong war, experts say. Any future claims that the US cleared the waterway where 20% of the world’s oil typically passes might fail to convince commercial freighters and their insurers that it is finally safe. “You don’t even have to have laid mines –you just have to make people believe that you’ve laid mines,” said Emma Salisbury, a scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s National Security Program.Pentagon officials have recently told US lawmakers it would likely take six months to clear the mines that Iran has set in the strait, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive information. The information was delivered during a classified briefing at the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.When asked about the estimate, defence secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Friday that the military would not speculate on a timeline, but he did not deny it. “Allegedly, that was something that was said,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon news conference. “But we feel confident in our ability, in the correct period of time, to clear any mines that we identify.”Adm Brad Cooper, the top US commander in the Middle East, recently told reporters that the military would be working to clear mines from the strait. He did not offer details. There is no indication that the US military is using warships, its most visible mine-clearing assets, in the strait now.But the Navy also has divers and small teams of explosive ordnance disposal technicians in the region that are capable of clearing mines. They are a less obvious target than a large warship. Experts also say some mine-clearing equipment could be moved off ships and deployed from land. It’s easier for Iran to lay mines than it is to find them, adds an expert.