Investing.com -- Crude prices reversed higher on Tuesday after CNN reported that Iran has begun laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that carries about one-fifth of all crude oil.

Iran has deployed a few dozen mines in recent days in the strategic waterway, according to two people familiar with US intelligence reporting. The country still retains upward of 80% to 90% of its small boats and mine layers, meaning its forces could potentially lay hundreds of mines in the strait, one of the sources said.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which now effectively controls the strait along with Iran’s traditional navy, has the capability to deploy dispersed mine-laying craft, explosive-laden boats and shore-based missile batteries, CNN has reported.

The IRGC previously warned that any ship passing through the strait would be attacked. The channel has effectively been closed since the start of the war, with the state of the strait described to CNN as a death valley given the risks involved in transiting.

US officials said on Tuesday that the US Navy had not escorted any vessels through the strait, though President Donald Trump said on Monday that his administration was looking at options to do so.

Major averages declined during the session as crude prices moved higher on the news.

President Trump wrote on Truth Social, "If Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY! If for any reason mines were placed, and they are not removed forthwith, the Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before. If, on the other hand, they remove what may have been placed, it will be a giant step in the right direction!"