The US military has destroyed 28 Iranian minesweepers so far, Trump announced. “The war turned out to be easier than we thought”

US forces have so far struck and destroyed 28 Iranian mining vessels, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, as Tehran tries to block oil traffic in the vital Strait of Hormuz amid the Middle East war, AFP and Reuters write.

“Up to this point, we have destroyed 28 minesweepers,” Trump told reporters during a visit to Cincinnati, Ohio, a day after the US military announced it had destroyed 16 of Iran's minesweepers.

The US president has again described the US-Israeli offensive against Iran as a “field trip” and assured that it is “way ahead” of the planned timetable.

Iran is said to have placed around 12 mines in the Strait of Hormuz

Iran has reportedly placed around 12 mines in the Strait of Hormuz, two sources familiar with the matter said, which could complicate the reopening of the narrow waterway, an important route for shipping oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), Reuters previously reported.

Exports of oil and LNG on this waterway were effectively stopped due to the war started 12 days ago by the US and Israel, which caused a sharp increase in world oil and gas prices, notes Agerpres.

Iran's military command said on Wednesday that the world should prepare for a rise in the price of oil to $200 a barrel.

According to one of the sources cited, the mines were placed “in the last few days” and most of the places where they were placed are known. But the source declined to say how the US plans to deal with them.

CNN first reported on the strait mining on Tuesday.

Iran has long threatened to retaliate against any military attack by mining the strait. About a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) normally pass through the strait, and Tehran's ability to block shipping through the canal gives it enormous leverage over the US and its allies.

The U.S. military says it has targeted Iranian ships that planted mines, eliminating 16 of them on Tuesday. But the US Navy has so far refused to provide a protective escort for merchant ships crossing the strait.

Donald Trump had on Tuesday called on Iran to immediately withdraw all mines placed in the strait and said there would be “unprecedented” military consequences if it did not.

Instead, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Wednesday that there were currently no indications that the Strait of Hormuz, located between Iran and Oman, had been mined, according to the DPA news agency.

Wadephul, speaking in Qatar during a tour of the Middle East, however confirmed that the route is effectively blocked. “There is virtually no maritime traffic and no one in the region is in a position to provide adequate protection,” he said.

Reports that Iran has placed naval mines in the waterway have further heightened fears about global oil supplies.

Wadephul pointed out that the situation in the Strait of Hormuz has a huge impact on the global energy supply. “Ultimately, I see only a diplomatic solution to this issue of safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, not a military one,” he said.

Trump: War with Iran, “easier than we thought”

The White House leader told reporters accompanying him in Ohio that the war with Iran is both a war and a “field trip.”

“You just said it's a little trip and you said it's a war. So which one is it?” asked a reporter.

“Well, both,” the US president replied, quoted by CNN and The Guardian.

“It's a trip that's going to keep us out of a war, and the war will be, I mean, for them — it's a war. For us, it turned out to be easier than we thought,” Trump continued.

In recent days, the US leader has offered conflicting timelines for the war. In a speech to House Republicans on Monday, he called the campaign a “short-term jaunt” and later vowed to “move forward more determined than ever to achieve final victory.”

“Let's see what happens” with Iran's new leadership, Trump says

Regarding Iran's new leadership, Donald Trump added: “We've removed their leadership twice, and now they've come up with a new group. Let's see what happens to them.”

Trump has consistently expressed his disapproval of Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28, the first day of US-Israeli bombing of Tehran.

In recent days, Trump said the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei was a “big mistake” and suggested he would not “last long” without US approval.

He told reporters he was “disappointed” and “unsatisfied” with the choice, after previously branding Mojtaba Khamenei as “unserious” and “an unacceptable choice” to succeed his father.

The US president has also so far refused to rule out the possibility of Mojtaba Khamenei becoming a military target. Israel, meanwhile, has vowed to target Iran's new supreme leader.

At least 25 attacks on US targets

On the other hand, at least 25 Iranian attacks have targeted US sites or US military personnel in the Middle East since the conflict began in late February, an AFP analysis of the strikes shows.

Among these attacks recorded between February 28 and March 11 at 15:00 GMT, four strikes were directed against US embassies or consulates in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq.

The other 21 Iranian missile or drone strikes targeted 13 different military sites housing US personnel.

This is primarily the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and the Iraqi airport in Erbil, which houses a US base, which have been attacked at least four times, and the Al-Udeid bases in Qatar and Al Dhafra in the United Arab Emirates have been targeted at least twice each.

This tally does not include the seven attacks observed or claimed by Iran against US THAAD radar and/or missile defense systems operated by either the United States or the Gulf countries, systems generally located near the bases targeted by Iran.

AFP was able to verify and confirm damage after 12 attacks on US-linked military sites by analyzing satellite images, the most recent from March 5, before US providers of high-resolution images imposed restrictions on their customers to protect their allies.

In parallel, also according to the same AFP database, almost 30 attacks targeted energy infrastructures in the Middle East between the start of the conflict and March 11, more than half of which were carried out by Tehran's forces.

The AFP has counted about 16 Iranian attacks in seven different Gulf countries that targeted oil and gas fields or complexes.

Among the sites targeted is the industrial zone in the United Arab Emirates, home to the Ruwais refinery, one of the world's largest, which was closed on Tuesday for security reasons.