In the early hours of a seemingly calm night, the Strait of Hormuz—one of the world’s most critical waterways—became the stage for a high-stakes operation that would unfold under the cover of darkness.

At 1:47 AM, as the moon cast a silvery glow over the water, five Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Hendijan-class patrol boats and a converted mine-carrying dhow moved stealthily westward, their mission cloaked in secrecy.

The objective? To seed the Strait with a deadly array of bottom-influence naval mines, a tactic that could disrupt global oil supply and escalate tensions in an already volatile region.