Video: Ceasefire outside, continued repression inside

US Central Command said on Saturday its forces have started setting conditions to clear sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz, with two Navy destroyers operating in the waterway as part of efforts to restore safe maritime transit.

CENTCOM said USS Frank E. Peterson and USS Michael Murphy transited the strait and operated in the Persian Gulf in a broader mission aimed at removing mines previously laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

“Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce,” said CENTCOM commander Gen. Brad Cooper.

The command added that additional US assets, including underwater drones, are expected to join the operation in the coming days.

France’s president said he spoke with his Iranian counterpart, urging Tehran to quickly restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and to use ongoing Islamabad talks to secure lasting de-escalation.

“We must seize the opportunity presented by the Islamabad talks to pave the way for durable de-escalation and a demanding agreement with solid guarantees for regional security," Emmanuel Macron said in a post on X.

“I stressed the need for Iran to swiftly restore freedom and security of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, and the importance of fully respecting the ceasefire, including in Lebanon.”

In a statement, the department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had terminated the green card status of Seyed Eissa Hashemi, Maryam Tahmasebi and their son, who are now in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement pending removal.

“Eissa Hashemi is the son of Masoumeh Ebtekar, also known as “Screaming Mary,” the infamous spokeswoman for the Islamist militants who stormed the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days,” read the statement.

The department said the three entered the United States in 2014 and were granted permanent residency in 2016 through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program.

It also said Rubio had recently revoked the legal status of relatives of former IRGC commander Ghasem Soleimani and of the daughter and son-in-law of former Iranian official Ali Larijani.

Rubio had earlier terminated the lawful permanent resident status of the niece and grandniece of former IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani, leading to their arrest by federal agents last week.

Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter are now in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the State Department.

The department alleged that Soleimani Afshar had publicly supported Iran’s government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps while living in the United States, including through social media posts praising attacks on US forces and promoting regime messaging.

The statement also said Rubio earlier terminated the legal status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, daughter of Ali Larijani, along with her husband Seyed Kalantar Motamedi, both of whom are no longer in the United States and are barred from reentry.

Iranian state TV denied reports that US vessels had crossed the Strait of Hormuz, citing a senior Iranian military official.

A US vessel turned back after receiving a warning, according to the official.

The denial followed earlier reports that US naval ships had transited the strategic waterway.

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States had begun clearing the Strait of Hormuz, describing the effort as a benefit to countries around the world including China, Japan, South Korea, France and Germany.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump also said 28 Iranian mine-laying boats were now “at the bottom of the sea.”

“The only thing they have going is the threat that a ship may ‘bunk’ into one of their sea mines which, by the way, all 28 of their mine dropper boats are also lying at the bottom of the sea,” the US president wrote.