00:00As Israeli warplanes begin a fresh bombardment of Tehran, the United States says it's destroyed
00:0616 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz.
00:12It comes after Donald Trump warned of severe military consequences for the Islamic Republic
00:17if it planted mines in the waterway.
00:19This as Iranian leaders remain defiant following 11 days of heavy strikes, again ruling out
00:26ceasefire talks and directly threatening Donald Trump.
00:29Well, let's cross live to Washington, where France 24's Fraser Jackson is standing by for us.
00:35Fraser, a fresh warning to Tehran to remove mines from the Strait of Hormuz,
00:40as Donald Trump says 16 Iranian vessels have been eliminated, as he put it, near the waterway.
00:47Is there actually any evidence that Iran has been laying mines here?
00:51What exactly do we know?
00:55On Tuesday afternoon, President Trump posted within the last few hours, we have hit and
01:00completely destroyed 10 inactive mine-laying boats and or ships with more to follow.
01:05Well, the US military now says that that is actually 16 vessels that have been destroyed.
01:10Trump's post came just 13 minutes after he posted a warning to Iran against laying mines in that
01:16vital shipping lane, saying if Iran has put any mines in the Hormuz Strait and we have no reports
01:22of them doing so, we want them removed immediately.
01:25If for any reason mines were placed and they are not removed forthwith, the military consequences
01:31to Iran will be at a level never seen before.
01:34Now, Trump says that no mines have been laid, but CNN is citing two intelligence sources that
01:39say that dozens of mines have been laid in the last few days, with Iran still maintaining
01:45over 80% of its capable vessels.
01:48And of course, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has previously warned that any ship
01:52passing through the strait would be attacked, and the channel has effectively been closed
01:57since the start of the war.
01:59I've reached out to a couple of sources so far.
02:02Nobody has responded to comment yet about the possibility that Iran has been laying mines
02:08in the Hormuz Strait.
02:10But of course, the uncertainty has caused oil prices to skyrocket recently.
02:13That's something that Donald Trump has been keeping a close eye on.
02:17He's tried to play it down by saying that the prices haven't increased by as much as he'd
02:21expected them to, whilst also telling the American people not to pay attention to the elevated
02:26prices, insisting that instead they'll go down once the war is over.
02:31Now, Trump telling the US public that not to watch the prices at the pump is a new strategy.
02:35For the last year, he's been repeatedly pointing out petrol prices as a rod to beat the previous
02:42administration with.
02:43Now, he is acutely aware that he could be blamed for the rising cost of petrol across
02:48the US, with prices topping $8 a gallon in some places like California.
02:53Well, earlier on Tuesday as well, Energy Secretary Chris Wright tweeted saying that the US Navy had
02:58escorted an oil tanker through the strait, and that reassurance caused oil prices to fall.
03:03But just minutes later, he deleted that tweet.
03:06And when the White House was asked about it, they said it wasn't true, and that the US Navy
03:10has not escorted vessels through the treacherous waterway, but says that it remains an option
03:14that they are open to.
03:16Fraser, thanks so much for that update.
03:18That is France 24.
03:20Is it Fraser Jackson joining us live there?
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