US and allies divided on the security of the Strait of Hormuz.
European countries have ruled out sending warships to the Strait of Hormuz, despite threats from US President Donald Trump, who said NATO would face “a very bad future” if members did not contribute to reopening this vital waterway.
Diplomatic difficulties add to operational ones. Although Trump has offered US Navy escorts for tankers navigating the Strait of Hormuz, it remains one of the most challenging waterways in the world to defend, reports Axios. The US armed forces have several capabilities that could be employed to counter mine warfare in the Strait of Hormuz, notes Defense News. Yet, according to CNN, the US Navy faces a gap in mine warfare in the Strait of Hormuz.
As highlighted today by the Corriere della Sera, “economical and easy to place, naval mines remain today the weapons with the greatest deterrent power, and their possible presence in the Iranian strait could have disruptive effects on trade and global economies. Mine clearance operations require months.”
Meanwhile, tensions in the Strait have already impacted markets, with oil prices rising above $100 per barrel for the first time since 2022. The disruption of maritime traffic represents a direct risk to about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.
All the details.
TRUMP’S PRESSURE ON ALLIES
President Donald Trump criticized the negative response from several partners to the request to contribute military ships to the Strait’s security, arguing that for decades the US has guaranteed their protection and implying he wanted to test their reliability. He stated he asked about seven countries to participate in a naval mission but received no concrete commitments.
In a Financial Times interview on Sunday, Trump said: “It is right that those who benefit from the strait contribute to ensuring nothing bad happens. If there is no response or if the response is negative, I think it will be very bad for NATO’s future.” At a Monday press conference, the White House chief reiterated his call for allies to help reopen navigation in the strait, stating that “some are very enthusiastic and others are not.”
THE RESPONSE OF EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
Despite contacts initiated by the US administration, the involved countries have maintained a cautious stance. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reiterated that London does not intend to be dragged into a broader conflict, while supporting the need to reopen the maritime passage, reports the Guardian.
Germany has also ruled out any participation in military activities, including efforts to reopen the Strait. “There has never been a joint decision on whether to intervene. For this reason, the question of possible military contribution by Germany does not arise. We will not do it,” said Chancellor Friedrich Merz. France had previously stated it was working with several countries on a possible international escort mission for ships through the strait, but President Emmanuel Macron emphasized that this will happen only when “circumstances allow.”
European politicians have stressed the importance of diplomatic efforts to reopen the strait, which until its effective closure by Iran transported about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.
THE EU WILL NOT EXTEND THE ASPIDES NAVAL MISSION TO THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ
The European Union, meeting in Brussels at the foreign ministers level, has also ruled out for now extending the Aspides naval mission in the Red Sea to the Strait of Hormuz.
A proposal to amend the mandate of Operation Aspides to contribute to the strait’s security has met little enthusiasm among member states, according to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas. Greece, which hosts the headquarters of Operation Aspides and sent two military frigates and two F-16 fighters to defend Cyprus after an Iranian drone struck the RAF British base on the island at the start of the conflict in Iran, also declared on Monday it will not participate in any military operation in the strait.
THE ITALIAN POSITION
On the Italian front, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated that “intervening in Hormuz would be a step toward involvement.”
Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that “diplomacy must prevail” and that our country is not involved in naval missions that could be extended to the area. He expressed doubts about extending the mandate of current European naval missions in the Red Sea to the Strait of Hormuz, “since these are anti-piracy and defensive missions.”
CAN THE US NAVY MANAGE ALONE?
Attacks in the Strait of Hormuz have almost completely blocked commercial maritime traffic to and from the Gulf, drastically interrupted oil exports from the region, and destabilized global energy markets. While claiming that the US has “destroyed 100% of Iran’s military capabilities,” Trump acknowledged that Iranians continue to send drones, drop mines, and launch anti-ship missiles against vessels in the Strait. Hence the US administration’s calls for allies to intervene.
Quoted by the Guardian, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said: “This is not our war, we did not start it. What does Donald Trump expect from a handful of European frigates in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful US Navy cannot handle alone? That is the question I ask myself too.”
MILITARY CHALLENGES IN DEFENDING THE STRAIT
But can the US Navy actually manage alone?
From an operational standpoint, defending the Strait of Hormuz presents structural challenges. The waterway, about 21 nautical miles wide at its narrowest point, concentrates traffic into limited and predictable corridors, making ships vulnerable, emphasizes Axios.
Iran enjoys a geographic advantage thanks to its position along the northern coast, allowing it to easily monitor and strike vessels. From the mainland, it can deploy anti-ship missiles and fast patrol boats with little warning, while US and allied forces operate from greater distances.
THE THREAT OF UNDERWATER MINES
Even without a dominant conventional fleet, Tehran can make transit through the Strait risky. According to a 2017 Office of Naval Intelligence report, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy considers naval weapons a fundamental pillar of its military strategy and reportedly began laying mines in the strait last week, reports Defense News. According to a Congressional report published Wednesday, Iran is estimated to possess about 6,000 mines.
MINES IN THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ?
Now questions arise about the possible laying of underwater mines by Iran.
On March 13, during a Pentagon briefing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated there was no “clear evidence” of mines in the strait. Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command (Centcom), said Monday that US forces destroyed naval mine storage bunkers during a US strike on military targets on Kharg Island, an important Iranian oil export hub, last Friday. According to Centcom, US forces also destroyed 16 Iranian sea mines last week.
THE AMERICAN MINEHUNTERS
Currently, the US Navy has four Avenger-class minehunters stationed in Sasebo, Japan, which could be deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Epic Fury if necessary, notes again Defense News.
As reconstructed by the American defense outlet, the US Navy commissioned 14 Avenger-class minehunters starting in the 1980s but has since retired almost all of them. The mine countermeasure service had four minehunters deployable in Bahrain until 2025, but they were decommissioned and replaced by LCS, or Littoral Combat Ships, equipped with mine hunting and sweeping capabilities. Each of the decommissioned minehunters had served for over 30 years.
These ships, which use sonar and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to identify mines below the water surface, were used during the Gulf War to destroy over 1,000 mines off Kuwait.
The Navy has sought to modernize its mine clearance capabilities by replacing the old minehunters moored in Bahrain with Independence-class littoral combat ships, specifically equipped with a mine countermeasures mission package. The LCS Independence-class ship’s MCM (Mine Countermeasures) package includes the aerial capabilities of the Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk helicopter, which can be deployed from the LCS to support search and mine clearance operations.
According to sources from CNN, the US Navy reportedly has serious shortages of mine countermeasure ships in the Persian Gulf region after repatriating the four Avenger-class minehunters stationed in Bahrain for planned decommissioning (pictured above), so much so that the burden of clearing those waters of Iranian underwater ordnance would fall to the three LCS, or Littoral Combat Ships, currently present in the area, wrote Analisi Difesa earlier this week.
THE REQUEST ON ROME’S TABLE
And it is precisely the minehunters that would be on the table between Washington and Rome while Prime Minister “Giorgia Meloni, Trump’s friend in Europe, distances herself from Iran,” observed last week the New York Times.
According to American (and Trump supporter) political scientist Edward Luttwak, “Meloni, following the Abe Shinzo model, was the first in Europe to dive into the Trump Lake developing a personal relationship that spared her the problems of others. But now she has refused the request for minehunters for a zero-risk operation. Trump will present his bill.”
The Italian Navy has carried out several mine clearance operations starting in the 1990s not only to clear the Adriatic waters after conflicts in the former Yugoslavia but also to clean Middle Eastern waters at the end of the two Gulf wars. And now attention is turning to the Strait of Hormuz.
THE MINEHUNTERS IN THE ITALIAN MILITARY ARSENAL
Today La Spezia hosts the main base of the Italian Navy’s minehunter fleet, part of the fifth naval division (COMFORDRAG). These specialized units, including the Lerici and Gaeta classes such as the Milazzo and Gaeta ships, are equipped with non-magnetic hulls, sonar, and remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) for hunting and destroying ordnance.
Crews of about forty people operate aboard, including highly trained divers who use high-frequency sonar to detect floating, anchored, or seabed mines and proceed with their neutralization.
The task of countermining – that is, attaching explosives to the mine – falls to divers or robots capable of operating at great depths in high-risk situations. In 2024 Intermarine (IMMSI group) and Leonardo secured a contract for the supply of new generation coastal minehunters destined for the Italian Navy. Specifically, the contract provides for the supply of naval units for mine detection and clearance – New Generation Coastal Minehunters (CNG/C) – and related integrated logistic support, valued at 1.6 billion for the construction of 5 units and about 1 billion in options for completing the program.
