Commander of the US Central Command (Centcom), Admiral Brad Cooper, announced the success of US forces in removing sea mines from international shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz, which he said were planted months ago by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Cooper said, in a video operational update on the “X” platform, that “the internationally recognized corridors have become free of sea mines,” adding that about 50,000 American soldiers are working throughout the region, and are carrying out what he described as “outstanding work” within the framework of the naval blockade imposed on Iran, in parallel with maintaining the flow of commercial shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. He considered that the removal of sea mines represents a “major achievement” for the US Army in the Strait, pointing out that US forces have carried out precise and calm operations over the past months to clear the shipping lanes of the threat of these mines. Cooper reviewed a nautical map of the Strait of Hormuz and its surrounding waters, explaining that it is frequently used by sailors around the world, and clearly identifies the internationally recognized maritime traffic separation system (TSS). He pointed out that the traffic separation system is similar to “a highway system for ships in the ocean,” as it includes a dividing line between lanes in which ships move in opposite directions, which helps keep ships separate and safe while crossing the narrow waterway. He continued that these corridors represent the routes that international shipping traffic has historically used to cross the Strait of Hormuz, and that American forces have worked over the past months to clear them of the threat of sea mines. He noted that the mine clearance operations were carried out by a group of US Navy divers and Navy SEALs, with support from the US Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. Cooper went on to say that the conditions in which the operations took place were “very difficult and dangerous,” but he stressed that the American forces “accomplished the mission.”