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Pentagon denies clearing Hormuz Strait mines will take six months
The Pentagon blasted as cherry picking and false on Thursday a news report saying that the department assessed it could take six months to completely clear the Strait of Hormuz of Iranian-laid mines.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the Pentagon shared the six-month estimate during a classified briefing for the members of the House Armed Services Committee, citing three unidentified officials familiar with the discussion.
Iran has vowed not to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as long as the United States blockades its ports, with the blocked waterway sharply driving up oil and gas prices and disrupting the global economy.
Asked about the report, Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said "the media cherry picking leaked information, much of which is false, from a classified, closed briefing is dishonest journalism."
"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 the Secretary," Parnell told AFP on Thursday.
Lawmakers were told that Iran could have placed 20 or more mines in and around the strait, some floated remotely using GPS technology that makes them harder to detect, according to the Washington Post.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards have warned of a "danger zone" covering 1,400 square kilometres -– 14 times the size of Paris –- where mines may be present.
A spokesman for German transportation giant Hapag-Lloyd cautioned last week that shippers needed details on viable routes because they remain fearful of mines.
Only a few ships trickled through when the Hormuz strait briefly reopened at the start of the ceasefire this month because of concerns about attacks or mines.
The US Navy said this month its ships transited the waterway to begin removing the mines but that claim was denied by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, which threatened any military vessels attempting to cross the channel.
London hosted talks with military planners from more than 30 countries starting on Wednesday about a UK and France-led multinational mission to protect navigation in the Strait of Hormuz once hostilities end.
The "defensive" coalition is set to discuss plans to reopen the strait and conduct mine clearance operations.
It took multinational coalition forces more than two years to remove hundreds of mines and declare the northern gulf mine-free after the 1990-91 Gulf War, according to US researcher Scott Truver.
R.Alba--HdM
