The U.S. and its allies would be able to reverse any Iranian attempt to block oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz within weeks, according to the authors of a report on Persian Gulf strategy. Reopening the shipping lanes may prove harder in future years, they found.
“Iran has some capabilities today, in terms of anti-ship cruise missiles, in terms of mines and swarming boats, that can create a significant problem for us,” said Mark Gunzinger, co- author of the report issued yesterday by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington. “Can we counter that challenge today? Yes. No question about it.”
Iran’s Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said on Dec. 27 that his nation may close the Strait, the passageway for about a fifth of globally traded oil, if the U.S. and its allies impose stricter economic sanctions in an effort to halt his country’s nuclear research. Reopening the narrow channels would take as long as a month if Iran laid thousands of mines and fired at U.S. vessels with shore-based anti-ship cruise missiles and small boats, Gunzinger and colleagues said in a briefing.
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