Chart shows Iran may have put sea mines in Strait of Hormuz

Thursday, 9 April 2026

Two police officers walk in front of an anti-U.S. billboard depicting American aircraft being caught by Iranian armed forces in a fishing net beneath the words in Farsi, 'The Strait of Hormuz will remain closed, The entire Persian Gulf is our hunting ground,' in Tehran, Iran, on Sunday, April 5.

Semiofficial news agencies in Iran published a chart Thursday suggesting the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard put sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz during the war.

The reports came from the ISNA news agency, as well as Tasnim, which is believed to be close to the Guard.

The chart showed a large circle marked “danger zone” in Farsi over the Traffic Separation Scheme, which was the route ships used to take through the strait. That was where the Guard allegedly put the mines.

It suggested that ships travel up north through waters closer to Iran’s mainland near Larak Island, a route that some ships were observed taking during the war.

The dates on the chart ran from Feb 28 until Thursday, April 9.

Government supporters gather ahead of the funeral procession for Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi, head of intelligence for Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 8, 2026.

It’s unclear if the Guard had cleared its alleged mining in the route. And it likely served as a pressure tactic as Iran, Israel and the United States now are in an uneasy, two-week ceasefire ahead of possible negotiations in Islamabad.