U.S. says warships transit Strait of Hormuz in mine clearance op

Two U.S. Navy warships transited the Strait of Hormuz to begin clearing Iranian-laid mines, U.S. Central Command said Saturday — a claim Tehran denied as the Revolutionary Guards threatened to deal “severely” with military vessels crossing the strategic waterway. The announcement of the first such transit since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began came shortly after President Donald Trump said Washington had started “clearing out” the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil passes. “Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to…