The Pentagon on April 23 denied a report in the Washington Post that it may take six months to clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines laid by the Iranian military. The paper reported Wednesday, April 22, citing three officials familiar with the discussion, that a senior Defense Department official shared the estimate during a classified briefing for members of the House Armed Services Committee.
But Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said in a statement that the report is “cherry picking leaked information, much of which is false” from the briefing. Parnell added, “as we said in March, one assessment does not mean the assessment is plausible, and a six-month closure of the Strait of Hormuz is an impossibility and completely unacceptable” to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
