India, March 11 -- The United States on Wednesday said it destroyed more than a dozen Iranian mine-laying vessels on Tuesday, as Tehran vowed to block the region's oil exports and warned it would not allow "even a single liter" to reach its enemies.

The US military said it had taken out 16 minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route through which about 20 per cent of the world's oil passes. President Donald Trump, however, said in social media posts there were no reports that Iran had planted explosives in the waterway.

The military released the figure along with unclassified footage of some of the vessels after Trump threatened to strike Iran at "a level never seen before" if it failed to immediately remove any mines it ...