No. of Recommendations: 8
...which means they have to sail through the mines, collect their vessels, then sail back through the mines and through the US Navy. They aren't doing that.
No, it doesn't. It means they sail through the U.S. navy, let the tankers sail through the strait (the portions where there aren't mines), and then wait for the tankers to get seaward of the mines again and then escort them out.
The U.S. Navy is seaward of the mines. So escort vessels don't have to go where the mines are to get the tankers through where the Navy is.
Sure. They can step in and flag Iranian ships. That would be a hilariously stupid thing for them to do.
That's not what I'm talking about. They can send Chinese-flagged tankers. They have their own tankers, after all. Send those tankers and see if the US Navy engages with them.
Except if the Navy can clear a navigation channel through the mines. You left out that part.
Because the mines aren't the only issue. They're not even the main issue. The strait wasn't closed because mines are there; the strait was closed because Iran was firing drones and very short-range missiles at the ships going through. They don't need mines. Mining part of the strait forces ships to move to a narrower area, which is helpful if you're defending against warships that will come through even if they have a risk of enemy fire - but it's not necessary to close the strait to civilian traffic, since they won't come through if there's a chance they'll be targeted by drones or missiles.
So, no - it doesn't matter if the Navy does any mine-clearing. And they might not even do that once the cease-fire is over and they'd come under missile and drone fire themselves = they weren't before the ceasefire, after all.
