Pentagon rejects report it could take 6 months to reopen Strait of Hormuz

The Pentagon has dismissed a report by The Washington Post suggesting that it could take up to six months to clear naval mines from the Strait of Hormuz allegedly laid by Iran.

The newspaper reported, citing three officials familiar with the matter, that a senior Defence Department official shared the estimate during a classified briefing with members of the House Armed Services Committee.

However, Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell rejected the claim, saying the report misrepresented the information discussed in the briefing. In a statement carried by NewsNation, he said the article was “cherry picking leaked information, much of which is false”.

Parnell added that earlier assessments should not be treated as definitive. “As we said in March, one assessment does not mean the assessment is plausible, and a six-month closure of the Strait of Hormuz is an impossibility and completely unacceptable” to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, he said.

Tensions in the region have remained high since the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28. Since then, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has reportedly deployed mines in the Strait of Hormuz and warned vessels against passing through the key waterway, which handles a significant share of global oil shipments.