The Strait of Hormuz has been attacked again, and the English-French demining programme has been compromised

On 7 July, just after approval by Oman and France to assist in the clearance of the southern channel of the Straits of Hormuz, there was a re-emergence of ship strikes in the Strait and a setback in the British-French plan to clear the Straits of Hormuz. Officials of the United Kingdom and France who do not wish to be named have disclosed that they have completed the deployment of their mine-clearance vessels and forces and that, once a military directive has been issued, limited demining operations can be carried out in the waters of Oman. Earlier, on 4 July, English and French announced that a diplomatic breakthrough had been achieved and that Oman had been successfully persuaded to agree to the demining mission。