An analysis suggests Iranian mining in the Strait of Hormuz would be much more difficult for the U.S. military to overcome than it admits.

Clearing the Strait of Iranian mines could be much more time-consuming than the U.S. military acknowledges, Bloomerberg reported, citing an article in International Security, a journal published by the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
A lengthy mine deactivation process at the point of passage of one-fifth of the world’s oil could upset energy markets and present the risk of a full war, said the analysis.
“The notion that Iran could truly blockade the Strait is wrong -- but so too is the notion that U.S. operations in response to any Iranian action would be short and simple,” defense analyst Caitlin Talmadge, a doctoral candidate in political science at MIT, wrote in the article.
“If Iran is able to lay even a small number of mines, we have problems,” said Talmadge, predicting that the country would be able to plant around 700 mines before US detection.
She added that the U.S. would be forced to launch a sustained air and naval campaign to locate and take out Iran’s land-based radar and cruise missiles as well as its small boats that are able to attack U.S. and allied mine-clearance vessels.
“It could take many weeks, even months to restore the full flow of commerce and more time still for the oil markets to be convinced that stability has returned,” she wrote.
According to Talmadge, as a result the passage would be more dangerous, triggering ‘a significant rise in oil prices’.
“(Talmadge) is right on her main points… the most serious threats are missiles first, mines and small boats -- in that order… Iran doesn’t have to close the Strait to hurt the U.S.,” defense analyst Harold Lee Wise said in his comments about the article.
Iranian military officials have warned to close the Strait at the entry point to the Persian Gulf if Israel or the U.S. launches an attack against the country.
(Source: Press TV)