Can Iran use rockets to mine the Strait of Hormuz, as US claims?

Notably, the United States broke a one-month lull in its war on Iran by striking military targets on Larak Island on Sunday, in what US authorities claim was a bid to prevent Tehran from using rockets to deploy sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

Key points

• In January 2025, Iranian state television appeared to show the IRGC using the Fajr-5 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) to lay mines during naval exercises.
• First developed in the 1990s, the Fajr-5 is a 333mm medium-range rocket system typically applied to launch artillery rockets.
• Newer variants, such as the Fajr-5c, are equipped with highly precise navigation systems and can fire rockets up to 130km (81 miles).
• But the 75km range additionally means that if deployed to lay sea mines, the Fajr-5 could cover the entire Strait of Hormuz.
• Last week, US President Donald Trump remarked CENTCOM had completed mine sweeping in the Strait of Hormuz, clearing it of mines.

Notably, the strikes were aimed at Iranian rocket launchers positioned on Larak Island in the strait. The US called the strikes a "limited, precise action" against mine-laying forces.

Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesman Tim Hawkins remarked the US military. It is at present blockading Iranian ports in and around Hormuz, had observed Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) preparing to launch rockets carrying sea mines.

Iran's leaders condemned the attack as an "act of aggression" and the IRGC has since introduced retaliatory attacks on two US army bases in Jordan. In an official note, the IRGC remarked its members and civilians were killed in the US strikes. The semi-official Tasnim news agency remarked at least two residents were killed and two injured.

But can mines really be laid using rockets? Here's what we know. Can sea mines be introduced into the sea using rockets?

Harlan Ullman, a retired senior US naval officer, informed Al Jazeera that the US's claim of rocket-launched mines was "implausible". He suggested that the US may have received intelligence that Iran was prepared to employ launchers from ships to deploy new mines but wanted to downplay the threat.

"It would strike me that a rocket, when it impacts in the water.the impact would be such that it would do a lot of damage to the mines, " Ullman remarked.

"They (Iran) have obtained a lot of options they could apply to plant these mines. So I would like to know from CENTCOM why they think Iran was using rockets. It to me is particularly, highly novel."

But Iran has itself advertised its ability to employ missiles to lay sea mines.

It is a medium-range system primarily built to fire rockets with warheads and is mounted on trucks which can handle tough terrain. How are sea mines usually deployed?

Usually, mines are deployed using specialised surface warships, submarines or aircraft. They can be dropped to the seabed or moored slightly above the bottom, waiting to detect the magnetic signature or vibration of passing ships before detonating. Mines can additionally be positioned to bob just beneath the water surface, exploding when they come in contact with vessels.

Iran is believed to have relied on its hoard of fast, small attack boats to drop an unknown number of explosives into the Hormuz waters before rapidly speeding away. Plenty of of these vessels have been struck by the US military.

Last week, US President Donald Trump remarked CENTCOM had completed mine sweeping in the Strait of Hormuz, clearing it of mines. He cautioned Iran that ships or boats deploying new mines would be destroyed.

To clear Hormuz of mines to create it safe for general shipping, CENTCOM would have needed to launch a painstakingly slow operation to find and trigger controlled detonations of every single mine, experts say. The US Navy typically uses its Avenger-class mine destroyers for mine sweeping operations as they're built with materials that create their magnetic vibrations less detectable. What do we know regarding Iran's Fajr-5 rocket system?

Iran has long been known for its innovation in low-cost, high-impact tactics or asymmetric warfare.

In January last year, according to Iranian news reports, the IRGC made public a new sea mine-laying tactic during a naval exercise using the Fajr-5 MLRS from onshore to scatter mines in the sea.

Analysts at the time called it "innovative" but additionally "concerning" as it meant the IRGC could now send thousands of mines over vast areas of water with a single launch.

Notably, the system can fire up to four artillery rockets from a mobile, multi-tube truck system. Each rocket is loaded with a 175kg fragmentation warhead designed to shatter into a number of fast-moving shrapnel fragments that can hit multiple targets. It has a firing range of regarding 75km (47 miles) and has primarily been employed by ground forces to target airfields and military bases.

Newer variants, such as the Fajr-5c, are equipped with highly precise navigation systems and can fire rockets up to 130km (81 miles). How could Fajr-5 be applied to lay sea mines?

According to Iran has not, the Fajr-5 or any other rocket system is at present being employed to deploy sea mines.

As appeared to be demonstrated in the IRGC's naval exercise in January 2025, in theory, the rocket's warhead could be packed with sea mines, rather than explosives.

Once introduced from a truck on the coast, the mine-laden rockets would fly over targeted naval coordinates and open their casings mid-air.

Unexploded sea mines would then be published into the air and dropped into the ocean. Attached to them would be small parachutes or other materials designed to slow their drop and allow for a soft landing, preventing them from detonating when they hit water.

Once in the water, the mines would sink to the seabed or float under the surface.

Notably, a single rocket launch could technically carry dozens, if not hundreds, of sea mines, spreading them throughout the narrow Strait of Hormuz.

While keeping Iran's fast boats from being attacked by CENTCOM forces, such a tactic could overwhelm minesweeping operations. Who has aerial mine-laying capabilities?

According to the US Navy, it already uses aircraft and launchers to deploy Quickstrike mines into the sea. This is a shallow-water mine created with a 2, 000lb (907kg) bomb fitted with mine components, wing and tail kits for rapid mid-range precision delivery by US Navy and US Air Force warplanes. They can be introduced over a range of 25km (40 miles) from beyond enemy air defences.

Modern variants employ Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) to enable aircraft to release mines with greater precision from much higher altitudes. According to the US Navy, JDAM is a guidance kit that can be continued to an existing unguided bomb to turn it into a precision-guided, "smart" munition.

When the US Navy noted it had tested a new guided munition, known as the GBU-75, capable of striking naval targets or deploying sea mines from aircraft hundreds of kilometres away, so far, the US has applied this tactic in training and testing exercises only, most lately in April.

Experts say the US needs to speed up development of new ways to place mines in the sea, including by launching them from land.

Writing for the US Naval Institute last year, US Navy Commander Adam Pace wrote: "It remains imperative to find a solution that can facilitate mine warfare while achieving survivability, desired volume and speed of delivery. Land-launched naval mining builds on established units and systems, such as Marine littoral regiments and the Army's multidomain task forces, to expand the ability of land-based units to influence the maritime domain".

In short, can Iran use rockets to mine the Strait of Hormuz, as US is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.