Iran's navy chief boasts that closing the Strait of Hormuz to oil traffic would be "easier than drinking a glass of water." Hardly, U.S. analysts say. 

Iran's navy does not have the size for a sustained physical blockade of the Strait, but does have mine-laying and missile capability to wreak some havoc, analysts said.

"It wouldn't be a cakewalk" for Iran, said Caitlin Talmadge, a George Washington University professor who has written about the Strait of Hormuz. "If Tehran really wanted to cause trouble, it could."

But the Bahrain-based U.S. Fifth Fleet is nearby and keeping a close eye on Iran's activities in the Strait. Mine-laying or missile activity would not go undetected and would likely generate a U.S. response.