Rubio Says Iran Mine Threat Violates International Law
WASHINGTON. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran has no legal basis to put mines in the Strait of Hormuz or threaten commercial ships, framing the dispute over Project Freedom as a fight over international waterways rather than a narrow regional confrontation.
Rubio made the remarks during a White House briefing clip circulated Tuesday. A White House or State Department transcript for the exchange was not located during research, so the article uses the local transcript of the public clip and corrects two intake-flagged ASR errors where the video context clearly refers to mines and the Strait of Hormuz.
"There is no international law that allows you to say, I'm going to put mines in an international body of water, and I'm going to blow up ships that don't listen to us and try to go through," Rubio said, according to the local transcript. "That's what Iran is doing."
Rubio called the alleged conduct "a criminal act" and said it was "completely illegal, completely illegitimate, and completely unacceptable." He said the U.S. military is guiding stranded commercial ships safely through the Strait while working to restore freedom of navigation.
What Happened
Rubio's comments came one day after U.S. Central Command said its forces would support Project Freedom beginning May 4. CENTCOM said the mission is intended to restore freedom of navigation for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and support merchant vessels seeking to transit an essential international trade corridor.
CENTCOM said Project Freedom support includes guided missile destroyers, more than 100 land and sea based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms and 15,000 service members. Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, said in the release that U.S. support for the defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy while the United States maintains a naval blockade.
The Defense Department's official transcript of a separate briefing by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth described Project Freedom as defensive, focused and temporary, with one purpose: protecting innocent commercial shipping from Iranian aggression.
Photo by U.S. Navy, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
The Legal Frame
Rubio's legal argument centers on whether any country can control access to an international waterway by placing mines or threatening ships. He said "international water" cannot be controlled by one country and argued that Iran's position amounts to dictating who may use a vital route.
The 1907 Hague Convention VIII, hosted by Yale Law School's Avalon Project, regulates automatic submarine contact mines. Article 1 forbids unanchored automatic contact mines unless they become harmless within one hour after the person who laid them stops controlling them. It also forbids anchored automatic contact mines that do not become harmless after breaking loose from their moorings.
Article 2 says it is forbidden to lay automatic contact mines off enemy coasts and ports "with the sole object of intercepting commercial shipping." Article 3 says every possible precaution must be taken for the security of peaceful shipping when anchored automatic contact mines are used.
That text does not settle every legal question in the current confrontation, but it shows why Rubio is tying the mine allegation to freedom of navigation and commercial shipping.
The Response
Administration officials argue Project Freedom is a defensive answer to Iranian coercion in a chokepoint used by ships from many countries. Hegseth said Iran was harassing civilian vessels and trying to weaponize a critical chokepoint for financial benefit.
Rubio made the same argument in legal terms. "The Iranian regime cannot be allowed to dictate who uses this vital waterway," he said, according to the local transcript.
Iran's government has previously treated U.S. military activity in the Gulf as an escalation and has opposed American sanctions and naval pressure. No official Iranian response specific to Rubio's mine-law comments was located in the primary-source file for this brief, so this article does not attribute a new Tehran statement beyond the administration's description of Iran's conduct.
Economic Implications
The Energy Information Administration says the Strait of Hormuz is the world's most important oil chokepoint. EIA analysis says oil flows through the Strait averaged 21 million barrels per day in 2022, equal to about 21 percent of global petroleum liquids consumption.
EIA also says flows through Hormuz in 2022 and the first half of 2023 accounted for more than one quarter of total global seaborne traded oil. Around one fifth of global liquefied natural gas trade also moved through the Strait in 2022, according to EIA.
That is the mechanism behind Rubio's "global economy hostage" line. EIA says chokepoint disruptions can create supply delays, raise shipping costs and increase world energy prices, including for Americans exposed to global crude benchmarks and refined fuel costs.
By The Numbers
CENTCOM said 15,000 U.S. service members are part of the Project Freedom support package.
CENTCOM said the mission includes guided missile destroyers, more than 100 land and sea based aircraft and multi-domain unmanned platforms.
EIA said 21 million barrels per day of oil flowed through Hormuz in 2022, about 21 percent of global petroleum liquids consumption.
Rubio said two U.S. flag merchant ships had successfully transited the Strait in the first stages of Project Freedom.
What People Are Saying
"There is no international law that allows you to say, I'm going to put mines in an international body of water," Rubio said, according to the local transcript.
"This is a criminal act," Rubio said. "Something needs to be done. It's completely illegal, completely illegitimate, and completely unacceptable."
"Our support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade," Cooper said in CENTCOM's release.
"Project Freedom is defensive in nature, focused in scope and temporary in duration, with one mission: protecting innocent commercial shipping from Iranian aggression," Hegseth said in the Defense Department transcript.
The Big Picture
Rubio's comments turn the Hormuz standoff into a legal and economic test for the administration's Iran strategy. The legal question is whether Washington can persuade partners that Project Freedom is a defensive freedom of navigation operation. The economic question is whether U.S. forces can keep commercial traffic moving without turning a chokepoint dispute into a wider military confrontation.
The next signs to watch are further CENTCOM transit updates, any official Iranian response, shipping insurance costs and energy price moves tied to the Strait. For now, the administration is arguing that mines in an international waterway are a direct threat to commercial shipping and the global energy system.
