A former U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) official said Iran is holding the world’s energy supply hostage using “World War I-style” tactics.

Iran has responded to U.S. and Israeli strikes by halting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global oil. The regime is using sea mines, which it has reportedly stockpiled by the thousands, to make traversing the strait difficult and deadly.

“This is a nightmare more than 30 years in the making,” former CENTCOM Communications Director Col. Joe Buccino (Ret.) said Saturday on “Fox & Friends Weekend.”

“What you just indicated there on your wall is a World War I-style of combat that Iran is waging,” he added.

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President Donald Trump sits at a table monitoring military operations during Operation Epic Fury against Iran at the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 2. (The White House via X/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The mines can detonate either on the surface of the water or below, with an explosion that would likely tear a hole through a ship’s hull, potentially sinking or disabling it. Buccino said that while the United States possesses superior high-end technology, the mines are an effective threat.

“These mines are a tool of really psychological warfare. We don’t know how many are out there. We don’t know where they are. And that creates fear and shuts down flow through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

Buccino said the mines are becoming a difficult problem because the U.S. Navy has “decommissioned” most of its mine-clearing ships. He warned that Iran is likely aware of this and is “exploiting a gap” in U.S. naval assets.

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Oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Disruptions in the strait have sent oil prices surging. President Donald Trump said Friday on the “Brian Kilmeade Show” that the U.S. would be willing to escort vessels through the strait “if we needed to.”

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On Friday, Trump announced the U.S. struck military locations on Kharg Island, a hub of Tehran’s oil infrastructure in the Persian Gulf. Writing on Truth Social, the president stated:

“Moments ago, at my direction, the United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island.”

Plumes of smoke rise following reported explosions in Tehran, Iran, on March 2. (Sohrab/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

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Trump noted the U.S. purposefully avoided targeting the island’s oil infrastructure but warned that could change if Iran continues to disrupt shipping.

Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, released a statement Thursday vowing the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the war ends and demanding that U.S. military bases be removed from the region.