US defence officials briefed lawmakers this week on an intelligence assessment that it could take six months to fully clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines deployed by the Iranian military, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

Furthermore, any such operation is unlikely to be carried out until the US-Israeli war with Iran comes to an end, members of the House Armed Services Committee were told on Tuesday, according to the report. This means gasoline and oil prices could remain elevated through the US midterm elections.

Iran may have emplaced 20 or more mines in and around the strait. Some were floated remotely using GPS technology, which has made it difficult for US forces to detect the mines as they are deployed, a senior defence official told lawmakers. Others are believed to have been laid by Iranian forces using small boats.

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The disclosure was made in a classified briefing for lawmakers, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell acknowledged in a statement, while criticising the related reports as “inaccurate.”

“As we said in March, one assessment does not mean the assessment is plausible, and a six-month closure of the Strait of Hormuz is an impossibility and completely unacceptable to the (Defence) Secretary,” Parnell said, without specifying how long it could take.

US President Donald Trump told Fox News on Wednesday that there is “no time frame” for ending the US-Israeli war with Iran.