Trump says Strait of Hormuz demined, warns Iran not to plant more

United States (US) President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that all mines had been detonated or removed from international waters of the Strait of Hormuz and that Iran has been told that any ship or boat placing new mines will be destroyed.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the United States, through its Space Force, was watching “every square inch” of the Strait, a key waterway in the global energy supply chain.
“There is a Zero Tolerance policy on mine placement in full force and effect,” Trump said.
The US and Iran have not conducted air strikes on each other’s militaries for weeks, but attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz have continued as the two sides vie for control of the narrow maritime passage.
Oil transits through the strait were at 5 million barrels per day on Monday, provisional data from shiptracker Vortexa showed, down from more than 20 million per day before the war or about one of every five barrels consumed worldwide.
Meanwhile, Iran pledged to fight back against expanded US sanctions aimed at isolating its economy, expressing confidence that major trading partners would resist the pressure campaign and saying that Washington was keen to revive talks.
Almost six months into a conflict the US has struggled to resolve, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled the measures on Monday but stopped short of the most punishing sanctions.
While he said countries that continued trading with Iran risked being forced out of the dollar-based financial system, he declined to give a timeline or identify which may be targeted, saying he would give them time to comply with the new directive.
Abbas Golroo, head of the foreign relations committee in the Iranian parliament, said Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir had delivered a message from the US to Iran on Monday.
“It seems the main goal was to revive the stopped political process,” he told ISNA news agency. There was no immediate comment from the White House or the State Department.
US to send diplomats back to Middle East
The US State Department is preparing to return diplomats to embassies in the Middle East that were evacuated before and during the war with Iran, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing an internal State Department document. The return of foreign service officers and the scaling back of emergency measures at US missions in the region could begin as early as this week, the report said.
Embassies slated to restore higher staffing levels include those in Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Iraq and Kuwait, according to the report. China vows to ‘safeguard own interests’ 
China said on Tuesday it would safeguard its interests after Washington laid out plans for the “economic asphyxiation” of Beijing’s economic partner Iran.
Almost six months into its war with Iran, the United States issued new penalties on some entities including in China and expanded secondary sanctions threats, urging governments worldwide to join its economic campaign. China has advocated for a ceasefire, and insisted US sanctions will not resolve the conflict.
“Cooperation between China and Iran has always been conducted within the framework of international law and should not be interfered with or disrupted,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a regular news briefing on Tuesday.