While Vice President JD Vance was just landing in Islamabad to negotiate peace with Iran, the Pentagon was already creating facts on the water. On April 11, CENTCOM confirmed its forces began “setting conditions” to clear the mines Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps laid across the Strait of Hormuz.

Two guided-missile destroyers, the USS Frank E. Peterson and the USS Michael Murphy, transited the strait and operated in the Arabian Gulf. It’s the first time U.S. warships have crossed that waterway since the six-week war began. And they did it without coordinating with Iran.

CENTCOM announced that underwater drones will join the clearance effort in the coming days. Admiral Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, stated: “Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce.”

The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s energy bottleneck: nearly 20% of the global oil supply passes through it. Since the ceasefire, only a handful of ships have transited, compared to the usual 100 per day. Oil prices keep climbing.