Even if the US and Iran somehow strike a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a halt to fighting won’t magically restore shipping through the contested waterway. A coalition of more than 30 countries, led by Britain and France, has begun wrestling with that problem. Success will require three things: clearing mines, establishing credible escort protection and restoring insurability for shipping.
Start with the mines. Iran is estimated to have up to 6,000, deployable at short notice from small boats or midget submarines. It has used them to devastating effect in the past, severely damaging a US frigate during the so-called Tanker War of the 1980s. While estimates vary as to how many of the weapons Iranian forces may have planted, even a modest deployment would threaten shipping in the narrow corridor and could take weeks, if not months, for a well-resourced force to clear.