Adm. Brad Cooper Announces that the U.S. Forces Have Cleared an International Shipping Channel of Mines and Declared the Strait of Hormuz Open

EXCERPT:

COOPER: "Hi, I’m Admiral Brad Cooper, Commander of U.S. Central Command, here with an operational update on two ongoing missions in the Middle East. Many of our 50,000 U.S. troops operating across the region are doing outstanding work, executing the naval blockade against Iran while maintaining commercial traffic flow through the Strait of Hormuz. As recently announced, the U.S. Military has achieved a major milestone in the Strait of Hormuz. We have successfully cleared sea mines in the Strait’s international shipping lanes that were laid months ago by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Internationally recognized transit routes in the Strait are free of Iranian sea mines, thanks to the incredible work of the U.S. Military. Let’s take a look at exactly what this means. Here’s a nautical chart of the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding seas. It’s frequently used by mariners around the world and clearly identifies the internationally recognized traffic separation scheme, which you see labeled on the chart as TSS. A traffic separation scheme is a highway system for ships on the ocean. Here on the chart, a dividing line is shown in place between lanes with opposing traffic directions to keep ships safely apart in the narrow waterway. These are the long-standing lanes international shipping has historically used to transit the Strait of Hormuz, and over the past few months, our forces meticulously and quietly cleared them of sea mine threats using a combination of Navy divers, Navy SEALs, and U.S. Air Power from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. The circumstances were challenging and dangerous to say the least, but we got the job done.”