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US Military ‘Setting Conditions’ To Clear Mines From Strait Of Hormuz

Reporting by Idrees Ali and Jason Lange Reuters April 11, 2026

WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters) – The U.S. military said on Saturday that it had started “setting conditions” for clearing mines in the Strait of Hormuz, with two U.S. warships passing through the key waterway.

In a post on X, the U.S. Central Command said the USS Frank Peterson and USS Michael Murphy transited the Strait of Hormuz “as part of a broader mission to ensure the strait is fully clear of sea mines previously laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.”

“Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce,” Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of Central Command, said in a statement.

Earlier on Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on social media that the United States military has started to clear the Strait of Hormuz, and that all of Iran’s minelaying ships have been sunk.

“We’re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, adding that “all 28” of Iran’s “mine dropper boats are also lying at the bottom of the sea.”

Trump has repeatedly said that American forces have destroyed Iran’s navy and air force while crippling its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

But fear of Iranian attacks on shipping over the past several weeks has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical conduit for global oil supplies. Throttling the strait has disrupted global energy markets.

U.S. gasoline prices have spiked even though most of the oil that flows through the waterway does not go to the United States.

Representatives from the U.S. and Iran began talks hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad on Saturday amid a fragile ceasefire in the conflict.

https://gcaptain.com/us-military-setting-conditions-to-clear-mines-from-strait-of-hormuz/

Canada #91

Iran’s Terror Regime Throws Last-Minute Tantrum — Demands Release of Billions in Blocked Assets and Full Ceasefire for Hezbollah in Lebanon Before Peace Talks Can Proceed

by Jim Hᴏft Apr. 11, 2026

The Iranian regime is once again proving exactly why Americans, and the world, cannot trust a word coming out of Tehran.

Just hours before high-stakes peace negotiations with the United States were set to begin in Pakistan, Iran abruptly issued a list of demands, threatening to derail the entire process before it even starts.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf took to X and delivered a blatant ultimatum: the United States must release billions in frozen Iranian assets, and a full ceasefire must take hold in Lebanon before any talks can proceed.

Ghalibaf wrote on X:

“Two of the measures mutually agreed upon between the parties have yet to be implemented: a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blocked assets prior to the commencement of negotiations. These two matters must be fulfilled before negotiations begin.”

The talks in Islamabad were supposed to build on the fragile two-week ceasefire President Trump forced through Pakistan’s mediation after weeks of escalating conflict.

Vice President JD Vance is already en route to lead the U.S. delegation and turn that temporary pause into a permanent deal.

The Guardian reported:

JD Vance has warned Iran not to “try and play” the US at talks planned for Saturday in Islamabad, while Tehran said it would not take part until Israel stopped bombing of Lebanon.

The US vice-president made the comments as he boarded a plane to Pakistan for negotiations that could determine whether a ceasefire holds or the war on Iran resumes with grave implications for the global economy.

With hours to go before the talks were scheduled to start, doubts remained as to whether they actually would.

It was unclear on Friday evening whether Qalibaf and Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, were still planning to fly to Islamabad to lead their delegation. It was reported last month that Israel had taken Qalibaf and Araghchi off the target list of its bombing campaign at Washington’s request.

Donald Trump fuelled the uncertainty by saying US forces were rearming and ready to return to the attack if the negotiations failed.

“We have a reset going. We’re loading up the ships with the best ammunition, the best weapons ever made – even better than what we did previously and we blew them apart,” the US president told the New York Post. “And if we don’t have a deal, we will be using them, and we will be using them very effectively.”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/04/irans-terror-regime-throws-last-minute-tantrum-demands/