For the U.S. Navy, it would be an apocalyptic scenario: A critical chokepoint of global trade and oil tankers, the Strait of Hormuz, shut down by the suspected, or real, presence of sea mines. The Navy regards the protection of the world's commerce lifelines as a raison d'etre, and has spent decades developing mine detection and mine sweeping technology to deal with precisely such circumstances. Iran has in the past put the world on guard that it would close the Persian Gulf to shipping if it were attacked. The impact would be huge. Americans mostly would feel it at the gas pump, with oil prices soaring out of control.
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