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Iranian sea mines: The West’s waterborne nightmare

Tankers sail in the Persian Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.

Tankers sail in the Persian Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday. | REUTERS

By Mathieu RABECHAULT
AFP-JIJI

Mar 12, 2026

Paris – Tehran is seeking to choke the vital Strait of Hormuz to oil traffic following U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran, with fears it could be using sea mines to do so.

U.S. forces have struck 28 Iranian mine-laying vessels, President Donald Trump said Wednesday, more than a week into the Middle East war.

Any Iranian mining of the key shipping lane, as its forces did in the 1980s, would be a nightmare for Western demining teams.

Amid the heat and humidity in Japan, a good night’s sleep is growing increasingly elusive without the heavy use of air conditioning.

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By Tomoko Otake

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan’s landscape that they often go unnoticed.

Why Japan’s utility poles won’t be disappearing anytime soon

By Alex K.T. Martin

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