The United States Armed Forces have communicated this Saturday that they have launched the deployment of two destroyers that have "begun to generate the conditions" necessary to proceed with the mine clearance of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most sensitive maritime routes on the planet.
"Two guided-missile destroyers of the United States Navy have carried out operations and begun to generate the conditions for demining," the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has informed in a statement.
The military command has specified that it is the "USS Frank E. Peterson" (DDG 121) and the "USS Michael Murphy" (DDG 112), two ships that have crossed the Strait of Hormuz en route to the "Arabian Gulf", Persian, "as part of a broader mission to ensure that the strait is completely free of sea mines previously installed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard".
The head of CENTCOM, Brad Cooper, has detailed that "today we have initiated the process to establish a new passage and we are going to share soon this safe route with the maritime industry to to foster the free passage of commerce".
In its note, CENTCOM emphasizes that the Strait of Hormuz constitutes an "international maritime passage" and an "essential commercial corridor" for regional and global economic stability. "Additional U.S. (military) forces, including underwater drones, will join the cleanup in the coming days," the U.S. command has stated.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has confirmed this very Saturday that the Navy was going to launch a demining mission in the Strait of Hormuz, in parallel to the delicate peace talks that are taking place in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, between high-level delegations from Washington and Tehran.
Shortly after the announcement, the Iranian Government has assured that the country's Army has forced an American destroyer that was approaching the Strait of Hormuz to change course and withdraw from the area.