U.S. Military Breaks Iran’s Grip on Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s most powerful economic weapon is losing its edge.

After months of fighting over the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. officials say American forces now effectively control most of the critical shipping lane — reopening routes, clearing mines and steadily reducing Iran’s ability to hit commercial vessels.

“That sucker is open,” President Trump told Axios. “The Iranian response is very mild. They don’t want us to go back at them. That’s the whole ball game.”

The turnaround is significant.

When the war began in late February, oil flowed normally through Hormuz, and Brent crude traded near $72 a barrel.

Iran then moved to choke off the strait, threatening tankers and, according to U.S. and Israeli officials, deploying naval mines into the main international shipping lane.

Commercial traffic cratered.

Brent crude later surged as high as $126 a barrel, giving Tehran exactly the kind of global economic pressure it hoped to create.

The U.S. response has since become a full-scale effort to break that leverage.

American forces, working with the United Arab Emirates, began escorting ships through the southern channel while providing air cover and intercepting Iranian drones and cruise missiles.

A two-week U.S. bombing campaign further degraded the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ ability to attack shipping.

Then came the mine-clearing operation.

Navy divers, Navy SEALs, drones and private contractors swept more than 200 suspected mine-like objects from the main shipping lane, according to U.S. officials. Only 11 were actual mines, and just a few had been properly deployed.

Traffic is now climbing again.

U.S. officials say 20 to 30 tankers are moving through the southern channel each night, carrying roughly 9 million to 10 million barrels — about half the pre-war volume.

Iran is still firing at ships. It just isn’t hitting many.

Only about 2% of vessels transiting the strait over the past month were struck, according to a U.S. official.

“We achieved a major milestone in the Strait of Hormuz,” U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper said Thursday. “Internationally recognized sea routes in the strait are free of Iranian sea mines.”

Traffic remains below pre-war levels, and the fight isn’t over. But Iran’s ability to hold the world economy hostage through Hormuz has been sharply diminished — and momentum belongs to the U.S.

More over at Axios:

“That sucker is open”: U.S. gains the upper hand in the battle for Hormuz https://t.co/TRzlcLYvho

— Axios (@axios) August 28, 2026