On the 12th, US President Trump said in an interview with Fox News Channel that the US would deploy more minesweepers to the Strait of Hormuz, that NATO would provide assistance to the US, and that some Gulf region countries had already started to help.
According to Xinhua News Agency, Trump stated that clearing the Strait of Hormuz "won't take too long." He also said that two US ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz smoothly on the 11th, "and no one did anything to them."
On the same day, Trump also threatened via social media that, given Iran's refusal to make concessions on the key issue of its nuclear program, the US Navy would immediately begin to blockade the Strait of Hormuz. However, in the interview, he admitted that blockading the Strait of Hormuz "would take a little time."
Trump also stated that when US-Iran negotiations were nearing completion, the atmosphere was "quite friendly."
According to a statement issued by US Central Command on the 11th, two US Navy guided-missile destroyers crossed the Strait of Hormuz that day, beginning efforts to enable minesweeping operations in the area. Iran, meanwhile, repeatedly issued statements denying that US warships had passed through the Strait of Hormuz. On the 11th, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated that a US destroyer attempted to enter the Strait of Hormuz, but was forced to retreat after being intercepted by Revolutionary Guard vessels.
In response, Iranian Navy Commander Shahram Irani said that the US threat to impose a naval blockade on Iran "is truly an extremely absurd and ridiculous action."
Irani said that Iranian Army Navy officers are comprehensively tracking and monitoring all movements of the US military in the region.