Editor's Note: This is part two in a three-part series examining Iran's ability to close the Strait of Hormuz. Iran knows its navy is no match for the ubiquitous and powerful U.S. Navy, so any credibility Iran may have in its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz rests on its asymmetric assets like small speedboats and more conventional weapons like anti-ship missiles and naval mines. In this segment, Stratfor considers the option of mine warfare. Click to read Part 1 and Part 2 . Relatively cheap, cost effective and easy to deploy, mines are the improvised explosive devices of naval warfare, and the potential variations in the Iranian mine arsenal are practically limitless. Could Iran close the Strait of Hormuz with an impenetrable field of naval mines? Probably not, but it wouldn't have to. In mine warfare, the ultimate objective is often psychological.