# oil shipments

Mines and Mini‑Submarines: How Iran Could Paralyse the Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s reported inventory of roughly 6,000 naval mines and a fleet of 28 submarines presents a credible capacity to rapidly obstruct the Strait of Hormuz. Even partial mining of the strait would severely disrupt about 20% of global seaborne oil, challenge U.S. and allied mine‑countermeasure capabilities and raise the risk of wider escalation.