Top US general: US military striking Iranian mine-laying vessels

The top US general said on Tuesday that the United States was carrying out strikes against Iranian mine-laying vessels.

The war has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for global oil and liquefied natural gas transport, leaving tankers unable to sail for more than a week and forcing producers to halt pumping as storage fills.

"(US Central Command) continues today to hunt and strike mine-laying vessels and mine storage facilities," General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters.

Caine added that in the first 10 days of the campaign against Iran, the US had sunk or destroyed more than 50 naval ships.

US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to escalate the war with Iran if it blocked oil shipments from the Middle East, even as he predicted a quick end to the conflict.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Susan Heavey, Katharine Jackson, editing by Michelle Nichols)