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Hormuz disruption will continue until 80 mines blocking route are cleared — Tanker owner trade body says centre of strait will stay shut for ‘some time’, and vessels forced to hug Omani coast risk running aground
The centre of the strait of Hormuz is blocked with about 80 mines that will need clearing for normal shipping to resume, the independent tanker owner trade body has said.
Several vessels began to exit the Gulf through the key maritime chokepoint on Thursday after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the US and Iran.
However, shipping is not expected to return to normal for some time, even if a ceasefire lasted, because of the mines and other obstacles, underlining the continuing challenges facing global trade.
“The main route … through the middle of the strait of Hormuz, that’s closed, that’s dangerous,” said Phil Belcher, the marine director at Intertanko, the tanker owners association.
“The latest figure we had was that there’s 80 mines in the strait of Hormuz. It’s an enormous amount and it’s going to take some time to clear.”
During the conflict Tehran laid mines in the centre of the strait in the traffic separation scheme, which has been in place between Iran and Oman since 1968, to restrict the movement of tankers and other vessels.
About 20,000 seafarers were left stuck either side of the channel, although some ships managed to sneak through at night near the Omani coast with their transmitters off and with US assistance.
Others paid to travel through Iranian waters in an arrangement nicknamed “Tehran’s tollbooth”.
[...] Almost 600 vessels are believed to still be in the Gulf, where they have been anchored since February, meaning the backlog will take time to clear.
Richard Meade, editor-in-chief at the maritime data provider Lloyd’s List, said: “We are in uncharted territory. I don’t think [shipping in the strait] is getting back to normal this year.”
The shipping industry is cautiously waiting to see whether the ceasefire in the strait will hold, after Israel and Hezbollah traded deadly strikes on Friday. The industry was already on high alert after the April ceasefire unravelled within hours of being announced.
Is Iran going to allow the mines to be cleared? The mines are instrumental in forcing ships to go through Iranian waters, and thus pay the "protection" fees.
If the mines are removed then Iran has much less leverage to extort fees.
I thought so too, because that was what i heard, but i cannot find any conclusive proof of this, i have found texts of the apparent MOU and mines are not mentioned at all there.
I suspect it is an understanding built upon Iran opening the strait.
5 — Upon the signing of this MOU, the Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge, for 60 days only, from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa. The traffic of commercial vessels will immediately start, and considering the need for removing the technical and military obstacles, and demining by the Islamic Republic of Iran will be instated within 30 days. The Islamic Republic of Iran will conduct dialog with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz in discussion with other Persian Gulf littoral states in line with the applicable international law and the sovereign rights of coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran is on the verge of state collapse. They project strength but the reality is they are in desperate need of hundreds of billions in foreign aid. They’ve agreed to the same deal Venezuela agreed to. Dependency. It just took a lot more to get them there
No one has paid the toll in months under threat of US sanctions. Since early May ships were using the Omani path with US protection
IMO who won or lost and to what extent depends in large part on the details of the USD 300 billion "reconstruction and development plan".
If it was $300 billion of cash reparations paid by the US then that would be an American loss and Iran win, as Iran could spend the money as they see fit. Iran could rebuild, directing the money to develop domestic companies and where necessary sourcing or partnering with companies from neutral or friendly countries such as BRICS members.
If instead, as it sounds like so far, it's an "investment fund", then Iran won't be able to spend the money as they see fit. The reconstruction funds and investment opportunities will have to go to US/US-aligned companies. The outcome is US/US-aligned companies will benefit from the reconstruction and perhaps end up owning assets and ongoing business concerns in Iran. Iran will have been economically integrated into the West. Business relationships will point West. Supply chains will point West. Technology dependence will point West.
The US may come out of this having successfully economically subjugated Iran and dealt a blow to BRICS. Also, economic ties pointing West keeps or increase Iran's vulnerability to US sanctions.
Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that overall the MoU represents an American victory. I'm just pointing out that the $300 billion dollar reconstruction aspect of the MoU, that specific aspect, could manifest as something that is not a clear cut American loss/Iranian win. It depends on the details.
I don't think the war is over. More than likely the MoU and negotiations will fall apart (or have already fallen apart). For example, it doesn't seem likely that Israel will withdraw from Lebanon.
Saudi Aramco is going to rebuild their oil infrastructure in exchange for ownership stake in Iranian oil companies.
The US controls sole licensing and permitting rights to Iran's reconstruction. The US controls all of their frozen assets. These can both be withheld at any time. It is Venezuela 2.0.
Iran is in state collapse. The are bankrupt, out of money, rationing food, water, gasoline. Hyper inflation.
The US holds all of the money they desperately need. The US controls their frozen assets. The US controls licensing and permitting to an investment initiative that will rebuild Iran with private equity.
Not only is there no evidence for your claims, there is evidence of the opposite. The IRGC is more firmly in control of the Iranian state than ever. You're living in a fantasy world.
IRGC is no longer a monolith. they have factionalized.
Mashad aquifer is at 2% capacity. They were talking abotu evacuating Tehran last year due to water bankruptcy. 40% of Iran will experience water shortage this summer - 35 million people. Tehran has been rationing water since November, they turn off half the city's water one night, then the other half the next night. inflation hit 200%, it has come down some - the riyal was trading 1.87 million to $1. Protein is no longer available and food prices are up 400%. there are videos of gas queues 2 miles long and the ration is under 20 liters a day. There have been 5 pay delays in the banking system in 5 months, maybe half of their soldiers havent been paid since March. They are rationing electricity.
Every problem a state can have - Iran has in catastrophic levels. they are experiencing compounding, horizontal system collapse across the entire society.
you arent watching closely enough, you are listening to Iranian state media and taking their word for it.
Holy shit that's funny. Iran is going to use every excuse to drag this out until the US feels real pain, because Iran will never have this much leverage again. The country that has gone from demanding complete surrender to surrendering itself is the US.
Poor bastards. All they got so far is literally everything they asked for. Must be devastating to lose so thoroughly, but like you say, they had no choice.
I assure you, if you want to see who won a war just look at the peace terms. This was a complete surrender by the U.S. And it isn't over, Iran can and will close the strait whenever Israel provokes them.
1 - the MOU is not a peace treaty. it is an agreement to negotiate a peace treaty.
2 - it is worded in such a way to allow Iran to save face because Iran has been ruled by a revolutionary death cult for 50 years. if their surrender is apparent they will have more infighting. There was already a coup last weekend - Pezeshkian and Galibaf won. Saeed Jalili is removed.
3 - The fact that Hormuz opens with no asset release should answer all your questions.
4 - the fact that Araghchi and Galibaf have left for Geneva while Israel attacks Hezbollah should answer all your questions
5 - Iran is bankrupt. The US controls the lever for frozen assets and controls the permitting and licensing for Iran's reconstruction. Private equity is going to flow into Iran in a gold rush unseen since Nixon opened China
Iran can certainly last longer than Trump can. They will never have the U.S. by the balls more than they do now.
Duh
Delusional.
Iran is fine with letting 20 ships out of 500 out as long as they get some of their supertankers out, which they did. They get some money, while the U.S. oil situation effect is negligible.
They closed the strait in response, so I think that answers your questions, actually.
Is it 4, or now 3, weeks of oil reserve left in the US?
I can’t imagine the dozens of things aligning, on all sides, before that runs out. Sure the MOU will gradually proceed to talks and a treaty… but that’s MONTHS not weeks away.
The only significant date ahead, the one that might actually impose effective change, is elections in November
If we think gas & diesel prices are high now, we haven’t seen anything yet
Our reserves are still pretty plentiful, granted we shouldn’t be depleting it in the first place. This whole thing is monumentally stupid. Enduring Freedom times a million.
The mines are an excuse, because Iran realized it holds the one really important card.
Look at what they achieved so far:
The Iran deal has 24-100B$ in sanction relief and a 300B$ reconstruction fund. This is more money to Iran than cumulatively Israel received since 1948. It is comparable to the reparations France had to pay Germany when they were defeated.
And it does nothing better in Iranian nukes than the JCPOA.
And it does nothing on Iranian proxies or missiles.
And it only stops Iranian tolls on Hormuz for 60 days.
And it forces the US to remove its forces from the area.
And it leaves Iran free to close the straights again for any of the slightest precieved infraction of any fighting in Lebanon, no matter who initiated it.
It is the biggest geopolitical setback since Vietnam, and possibly the worst US end-of-war terms since 1812.
It is a wholesale disaster for the US, on any terms other than oil prices into the midterms.
But they want more and they will get it. The Iranians want an unconditional US surrender and they will push until they get one.
They already got the US to basically surrender, now they’re betting the US can reign in Israel and stop their invasion of Lebanon. We’ll see what happens, Israel sentiment has shifting wildly here in the states but our elected politicians have always skewed pro Israel.
The MOU is not going to hold up because it's only a note promising to keep talking about the fundamental issues coupled with a US capitulation on numerous issues. It's domestically politically untenable for Trump and Israel has zero interest in making the numerous commitments it has to in order to meet the terms.
But Iran is closing the strait again already https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/20/world/live-news/iran-war-trump-israel-lebanon
The deal is incredibly unpopular in Israel. They're probably not going to stop fighting in Lebanon and Iran is insisting that they do. None of the contractions have been resolved.
[OP] marketrent | 7 hours ago
Excerpts from article by Joanna Partridge:
The centre of the strait of Hormuz is blocked with about 80 mines that will need clearing for normal shipping to resume, the independent tanker owner trade body has said.
Several vessels began to exit the Gulf through the key maritime chokepoint on Thursday after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the US and Iran.
However, shipping is not expected to return to normal for some time, even if a ceasefire lasted, because of the mines and other obstacles, underlining the continuing challenges facing global trade.
“The main route … through the middle of the strait of Hormuz, that’s closed, that’s dangerous,” said Phil Belcher, the marine director at Intertanko, the tanker owners association.
“The latest figure we had was that there’s 80 mines in the strait of Hormuz. It’s an enormous amount and it’s going to take some time to clear.”
During the conflict Tehran laid mines in the centre of the strait in the traffic separation scheme, which has been in place between Iran and Oman since 1968, to restrict the movement of tankers and other vessels.
About 20,000 seafarers were left stuck either side of the channel, although some ships managed to sneak through at night near the Omani coast with their transmitters off and with US assistance.
Others paid to travel through Iranian waters in an arrangement nicknamed “Tehran’s tollbooth”.
[...] Almost 600 vessels are believed to still be in the Gulf, where they have been anchored since February, meaning the backlog will take time to clear.
Richard Meade, editor-in-chief at the maritime data provider Lloyd’s List, said: “We are in uncharted territory. I don’t think [shipping in the strait] is getting back to normal this year.”
The shipping industry is cautiously waiting to see whether the ceasefire in the strait will hold, after Israel and Hezbollah traded deadly strikes on Friday. The industry was already on high alert after the April ceasefire unravelled within hours of being announced.
dravik | 7 hours ago
Is Iran going to allow the mines to be cleared? The mines are instrumental in forcing ships to go through Iranian waters, and thus pay the "protection" fees.
If the mines are removed then Iran has much less leverage to extort fees.
lordtema | 6 hours ago
Iran has said that the mines will be removed.
Microplasticsharts | 6 hours ago
Did they promise to stop laying new mines?
[OP] marketrent | 6 hours ago
>lordtema
>Iran has said that the mines will be removed.
Which official said this?
Clear-Role6880 | 6 hours ago
It’s in the MOU that they signed. They agreed to remove the mines and restore shipping to pre war levels within 30 days
lordtema | 6 hours ago
I thought so too, because that was what i heard, but i cannot find any conclusive proof of this, i have found texts of the apparent MOU and mines are not mentioned at all there.
I suspect it is an understanding built upon Iran opening the strait.
Clear-Role6880 | 6 hours ago
5 — Upon the signing of this MOU, the Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge, for 60 days only, from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa. The traffic of commercial vessels will immediately start, and considering the need for removing the technical and military obstacles, and demining by the Islamic Republic of Iran will be instated within 30 days. The Islamic Republic of Iran will conduct dialog with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz in discussion with other Persian Gulf littoral states in line with the applicable international law and the sovereign rights of coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz.
[OP] marketrent | 6 hours ago
Thanks for tracing the demining timeline; let's see.
Clear-Role6880 | 6 hours ago
Iran is on the verge of state collapse. They project strength but the reality is they are in desperate need of hundreds of billions in foreign aid. They’ve agreed to the same deal Venezuela agreed to. Dependency. It just took a lot more to get them there
No one has paid the toll in months under threat of US sanctions. Since early May ships were using the Omani path with US protection
Xeynon | 5 hours ago
How are people still this delusional?
The MOU is a document of complete American surrender to Iranian demands and that reflects the strategic outcome of the war. Trump lost, badly.
jsteed | 4 hours ago
IMO who won or lost and to what extent depends in large part on the details of the USD 300 billion "reconstruction and development plan".
If it was $300 billion of cash reparations paid by the US then that would be an American loss and Iran win, as Iran could spend the money as they see fit. Iran could rebuild, directing the money to develop domestic companies and where necessary sourcing or partnering with companies from neutral or friendly countries such as BRICS members.
If instead, as it sounds like so far, it's an "investment fund", then Iran won't be able to spend the money as they see fit. The reconstruction funds and investment opportunities will have to go to US/US-aligned companies. The outcome is US/US-aligned companies will benefit from the reconstruction and perhaps end up owning assets and ongoing business concerns in Iran. Iran will have been economically integrated into the West. Business relationships will point West. Supply chains will point West. Technology dependence will point West.
The US may come out of this having successfully economically subjugated Iran and dealt a blow to BRICS. Also, economic ties pointing West keeps or increase Iran's vulnerability to US sanctions.
Xeynon | 2 hours ago
None of that is going to happen.
jsteed | an hour ago
Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that overall the MoU represents an American victory. I'm just pointing out that the $300 billion dollar reconstruction aspect of the MoU, that specific aspect, could manifest as something that is not a clear cut American loss/Iranian win. It depends on the details.
I don't think the war is over. More than likely the MoU and negotiations will fall apart (or have already fallen apart). For example, it doesn't seem likely that Israel will withdraw from Lebanon.
Clear-Role6880 | an hour ago
it is total US victory. Iran cannot afford to return to war, the state will literally collapse
Clear-Role6880 | an hour ago
Saudi Aramco is going to rebuild their oil infrastructure in exchange for ownership stake in Iranian oil companies.
The US controls sole licensing and permitting rights to Iran's reconstruction. The US controls all of their frozen assets. These can both be withheld at any time. It is Venezuela 2.0.
Nixon opens China.
Clear-Role6880 | 3 hours ago
Iran is in state collapse. The are bankrupt, out of money, rationing food, water, gasoline. Hyper inflation.
The US holds all of the money they desperately need. The US controls their frozen assets. The US controls licensing and permitting to an investment initiative that will rebuild Iran with private equity.
The US controls Irans economy
Xeynon | 2 hours ago
Not only is there no evidence for your claims, there is evidence of the opposite. The IRGC is more firmly in control of the Iranian state than ever. You're living in a fantasy world.
Clear-Role6880 | 2 hours ago
IRGC is no longer a monolith. they have factionalized.
Mashad aquifer is at 2% capacity. They were talking abotu evacuating Tehran last year due to water bankruptcy. 40% of Iran will experience water shortage this summer - 35 million people. Tehran has been rationing water since November, they turn off half the city's water one night, then the other half the next night. inflation hit 200%, it has come down some - the riyal was trading 1.87 million to $1. Protein is no longer available and food prices are up 400%. there are videos of gas queues 2 miles long and the ration is under 20 liters a day. There have been 5 pay delays in the banking system in 5 months, maybe half of their soldiers havent been paid since March. They are rationing electricity.
Every problem a state can have - Iran has in catastrophic levels. they are experiencing compounding, horizontal system collapse across the entire society.
you arent watching closely enough, you are listening to Iranian state media and taking their word for it.
Clear-Role6880 | 2 hours ago
strike that - 6 pay delays. Today the banks are not working again and users cannot access their funds.
tasticle | 6 hours ago
Holy shit that's funny. Iran is going to use every excuse to drag this out until the US feels real pain, because Iran will never have this much leverage again. The country that has gone from demanding complete surrender to surrendering itself is the US.
Clear-Role6880 | 6 hours ago
Their leverage is already flowing out of Hormuz. Danger assessment by Lloyd’s was lowered to moderate
They held out as long as they could
But yes expect delay and excuses
tasticle | 5 hours ago
Poor bastards. All they got so far is literally everything they asked for. Must be devastating to lose so thoroughly, but like you say, they had no choice.
Clear-Role6880 | 3 hours ago
There is no reason to create mass starvation and mass dehydration, state collapse, civil war. Libya
I assure you they did not want to become Venezuela
tasticle | 2 hours ago
I assure you, if you want to see who won a war just look at the peace terms. This was a complete surrender by the U.S. And it isn't over, Iran can and will close the strait whenever Israel provokes them.
Clear-Role6880 | 2 hours ago
1 - the MOU is not a peace treaty. it is an agreement to negotiate a peace treaty.
2 - it is worded in such a way to allow Iran to save face because Iran has been ruled by a revolutionary death cult for 50 years. if their surrender is apparent they will have more infighting. There was already a coup last weekend - Pezeshkian and Galibaf won. Saeed Jalili is removed.
3 - The fact that Hormuz opens with no asset release should answer all your questions.
4 - the fact that Araghchi and Galibaf have left for Geneva while Israel attacks Hezbollah should answer all your questions
5 - Iran is bankrupt. The US controls the lever for frozen assets and controls the permitting and licensing for Iran's reconstruction. Private equity is going to flow into Iran in a gold rush unseen since Nixon opened China
tasticle | an hour ago
Iran can certainly last longer than Trump can. They will never have the U.S. by the balls more than they do now.
Duh
Delusional.
Iran is fine with letting 20 ships out of 500 out as long as they get some of their supertankers out, which they did. They get some money, while the U.S. oil situation effect is negligible.
They closed the strait in response, so I think that answers your questions, actually.
Delusional.
WhereDidAllTheSnowGo | 4 hours ago
Is it 4, or now 3, weeks of oil reserve left in the US?
I can’t imagine the dozens of things aligning, on all sides, before that runs out. Sure the MOU will gradually proceed to talks and a treaty… but that’s MONTHS not weeks away.
The only significant date ahead, the one that might actually impose effective change, is elections in November
If we think gas & diesel prices are high now, we haven’t seen anything yet
KartoffelLoeffel | 31 minutes ago
Our reserves are still pretty plentiful, granted we shouldn’t be depleting it in the first place. This whole thing is monumentally stupid. Enduring Freedom times a million.
RBZRBZRBZRBZ | 3 hours ago
The mines are an excuse, because Iran realized it holds the one really important card.
Look at what they achieved so far:
The Iran deal has 24-100B$ in sanction relief and a 300B$ reconstruction fund. This is more money to Iran than cumulatively Israel received since 1948. It is comparable to the reparations France had to pay Germany when they were defeated.
And it does nothing better in Iranian nukes than the JCPOA.
And it does nothing on Iranian proxies or missiles.
And it only stops Iranian tolls on Hormuz for 60 days.
And it forces the US to remove its forces from the area.
And it leaves Iran free to close the straights again for any of the slightest precieved infraction of any fighting in Lebanon, no matter who initiated it.
It is the biggest geopolitical setback since Vietnam, and possibly the worst US end-of-war terms since 1812.
It is a wholesale disaster for the US, on any terms other than oil prices into the midterms.
But they want more and they will get it. The Iranians want an unconditional US surrender and they will push until they get one.
m1j5 | an hour ago
They already got the US to basically surrender, now they’re betting the US can reign in Israel and stop their invasion of Lebanon. We’ll see what happens, Israel sentiment has shifting wildly here in the states but our elected politicians have always skewed pro Israel.
Xeynon | 5 hours ago
The MOU is not going to hold up because it's only a note promising to keep talking about the fundamental issues coupled with a US capitulation on numerous issues. It's domestically politically untenable for Trump and Israel has zero interest in making the numerous commitments it has to in order to meet the terms.
NACHO.
Master-Rent5050 | 5 hours ago
Look, if USA does not go to war and the strait stays open, I would say the mou is working
ReallyHappyHippo | 4 hours ago
But Iran is closing the strait again already https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/20/world/live-news/iran-war-trump-israel-lebanon
The deal is incredibly unpopular in Israel. They're probably not going to stop fighting in Lebanon and Iran is insisting that they do. None of the contractions have been resolved.
TWIT_TWAT | 4 hours ago
Trump really just wants to wrap this up. No plan on the way in, no plan on the way out.
Fair-Search-2324 | an hour ago
He holds no cards to get it done