ABOARD USS MONTEREY, Persian Gulf, July 11 — The low thrum of a warship’s engines is the only sound as the guided-missile cruiser cuts through the grey-green water of the Strait of Hormuz. On the bridge, lookers scan the horizon for anything unusual. By nightfall, the crew will have logged another twelve hours of patrol under Operation Sentinel, the international maritime security framework that the U.S. Central Command is now leaning on heavily.
General Michael Kurilla, who has led CENTCOM since 2022, is weighing a menu of options. The immediate focus is on increasing naval patrols under that existing operation.
Mine-clearing operations are also on the table, a direct response to the threat that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could seed the narrow shipping lanes with explosives. A more muscular option involves escorting commercial vessels through the strait, a move that would put American sailors directly between Iranian fast boats and oil tankers. The Pentagon is looking backward for a playbook.
The 1987 Operation Earnest Will, when the U.S. reflagged Kuwaiti tankers and escorted them through the Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War, is the precedent being cited in planning rooms. That operation ended with the USS Stark struck by an Iraqi missile and the USS Samuel B.
Roberts mined—a reminder of how quickly a protection mission can turn bloody. Diplomatic channels are also humming. At the United Nations Security Council, the U.S. is expected to push for a resolution demanding free passage under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The legal argument is straightforward: UNCLOS guarantees innocent passage through international straits, and Iran’s closure—announced by the IRGC without specifying conditions for reopening—violates that principle. Oman has emerged as a potential mediator. The sultanate maintains good relations with both Tehran and Washington, and its diplomats have shuttled between the two capitals in recent days.
Whether Oman can bridge the gap is an open question.
Iran’s nuclear leverage
The Strait closure does not exist in a vacuum. The International Atomic Energy Agency has reported that Iran is enriching uranium to 60% purity, a level that is a short technical step from weapons-grade material. Many analysts in Washington see the IRGC’s move as a negotiating tactic, a bid to extract sanctions relief or concessions on the nuclear program. The IRGC’s statement was notably vague, offering no timeline for reopening and no list of demands. That ambiguity is itself a signal: Tehran wants the world to wait and wonder.
The situation remains fluid. No timeline for resolution has been announced. For the sailors on the Monterey, the mission is clear: keep the strait open, one patrol at a time. What comes next depends on decisions made in Washington, Tehran, and the narrow corridors of power in between.
