US Destroyers Reportedly Enter Strait of Hormuz

As talks between Iran and the US were taking place in Pakistan Saturday, another notable development unfolded in the Strait of Hormuz. The US says two Navy destroyers passed through the strait, the first such transit of US warships since the war began, reports the Wall Street Journal. In a statement, US Central Command said the move was part of an operation to begin clearing mines from the strait. The New York Times reports that one of the ships even destroyed an Iranian surveillance drone approaching them.

Tehran, however, is telling a very different story. An Iranian military spokesman said the US ships never entered the waterway and insisted Iran still controls the chokepoint, through which about 20% of global oil normally flows. A semiofficial news agency claimed that there is "no traffic" in the strait and that Iran had refused passage to a US destroyer. Multiple American officials rejected that, saying the ships transited the strait before exiting back to the Gulf of Oman. On Saturday, President Trump told reporters that "we have minesweepers out there—we're sweeping the strait," per CBS News.