With Iran deal, Trump told ships to 'start your engines.' That's not happening yet

In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency, residents fish from the shore as cargo and commercial vessels lie at anchor in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas on June 8. Amirhossein Khorgooei/ISNA/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

With the announcement of an agreement to extend a ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Friday is the day President Trump said merchant ships can once again sail unimpeded through the Strait, or as he pronounced, "Ships of the world, start your engines."

Despite the president's pronouncement, there are still questions about how quickly commercial ships can start moving, and whether Iran will truly allow those ships to resume free access in what is an international waterway. There are still some 1,500 ships stuck inside the Persian Gulf waiting to leave, according to industry analysts, including hundreds of ocean-going vessels such as oil tankers.

Before the U.S. and Israel waged war against Iran at the end of February, 140 ships passed through the Strait each day, according to both industry analysts and U.S. officials. The attacks against Iran led its leaders to close the Strait to traffic by firing drones and missiles at ships and laying mines along the shipping lanes, according to U.S. officials.

The U.S. has already started removing some of those mines and opened up a new pathway off Oman so ships can leave and not have to hug the Iranian coast, said Capt. Tim Hawkins, spokesman for U.S. Central Command.

"It's been a U.S. effort," Hawkins said, adding he would not talk about how long such an effort would take.

But now that an agreement has been announced, Britain and France will take part in demining, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said this week.

"The UK and France have taken a leading role up to this point," he said, "particularly to offer support on mine clearance in an agreed way."