Iran and Oman have jointly outlined a proposal to establish interim shipping lanes and clear mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
The announcement followed US President Donald Trump’s statement that all landmines had been detonated or cleared.
This raises questions about the difficulty of removing explosives from waterways.
Experts say Iran has some demining capability, but doubts it is sophisticated enough to clear the strait.
Is it possible to clear landmines without Iran’s cooperation?
“Iran has some demining capabilities, but most of its mine warfare capabilities are designed to lay mines,” Chatham House Schwarzman Academy Fellow Nitya Love told CNN.
Rab said Iran does not have the capability to sweep the ocean meter by meter at various depths and questioned whether Iran could be trusted to carry out such operations.
Paul Heslop, the UN’s senior mine countermeasures expert, said demining operations require highly specialized sensors and trained personnel, making them expensive and complex operations. He added that Iran’s cooperation remains important.
Mr Heslop said information such as the location of mines is critical to the Navy’s ability to predict where they are, how deep they are and whether they are safe.
“Unless Iranians provide that information to other countries, they won’t get the same benefits,” he said.
Love added that political commitments like those in the June memorandum cannot guarantee the strait will reopen.
“A declaration of reopening alone will not eliminate the mine danger, nor will it restore market confidence in the shipping and insurance industries,” he said.
