Tehran has threatened to place explosives in the critical global trade route in response to a potential US ground operation
In response to reports that the US is deploying thousands of troops to the Middle East ahead of a possible ground incursion into Iran, the country’s National Defense Council has warned it could seed the Persian Gulf with mines in response.
In the second week of the war on Iran, US Central Command reported destroying 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, which were reportedly unmanned at the time.
Laying naval mines, notoriously difficult to remove, would give Tehran a strong grip over shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf and raise the cost of any US-Israeli attempt at regime change.
In a statement released on Monday, Iranian officials said such a move would “naturally result in the mining of all access routes in the Persian Gulf and coastal areas,” potentially blocking navigation for an extended period.
Why would Iran mine the Persian Gulf?
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: rt.com
