Iran threatens naval mines in Persian Gulf amid escalating tensions with US, Israel

Tehran: Iran on Monday threatened to deploy "naval mines" in the Gulf if the United States and Israel were to attack any of its coasts or islands.

"Any attempt by the enemy to attack Iranian coasts or islands will naturally, and in accordance with established military practice, lead to all access routes and communication lines in the Persian Gulf and coastal areas being mined with various types of naval mines, including drifting mines deployable from the coasts," said the country's defence council in a statement carried by state media.

The Defence Council, which operates under the Supreme National Security Council, was formed after Iran's 12-day war with Israel in June 2025.

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The top commander of the U.S. military’s Central Command said the campaign against Iran is “ahead or on plan," as the Israeli military began what it called "a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting Iranian terror regime infrastructure” early Monday.

U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper gave his first one-on-one interview of the war to the Farsi-language satellite network Iran International, which aired it early Monday. Iranian media reported new airstrikes targeting Tehran without identifying the sites being hit.

The previous day, Tehran warned it could attack U.S. and Israeli energy and infrastructure assets if Israel or the U.S. attempted to follow through on President Donald Trump's threat that the U.S. would “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it didn’t fully open the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump, who is facing increasing pressure at home to secure the Strait as oil prices soar, issued the ultimatum in a social media post while he spent the weekend at his Florida home.

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The death toll from the war has risen to more than 1,500 people in Iran, more than 1,000 people in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 13 U.S. military members, as well as a number of civilians on land and sea in the Gulf region. Millions of people in Lebanon and Iran have been displaced.