DUBAI, April 26 -- Naval mines bobbing in the waters of the Persian Gulf, threatening oil tankers. Iranian speed boats raking ships with machine-gun fire in the Strait of Hormuz. And the United States right in the middle of the fight. This isn't the current conflict between Iran and the U.S., paused by a shaky ceasefire. Instead, it's the "Tanker war," when Iran targeted shipping during its 1980s war with Iraq, and U.S. warships stepped in to escort Kuwaiti tankers to ensure the flow of crude oil to the global market. The U.S. could follow that model now and become more aggressive to protect ships passing through the strait, through which 20% of the world's traded oil and natural gas passes in peacetime. It conducted more limited escorts of ships that came under attack in the Red Sea in recent years, and President Donald Trump said this week that he has ordered the U.S. military to "shoot and kill" small Iranian boats. But offering escorts in the Strait of Hormuz wouldn't be so easy. Military technology has advanced since the "Tanker war." The U.S. hasn't defined the same clear, narrow goals in this war as it did in the 1980s. And it's not clear international shippers would feel safe even with an American Navy escort given it is a combatant now. The U.S. Navy has long been familiar with the small boat tactics deployed by Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which has adapted to international sanctions blocking its ability to access military vessels by using smaller civilian ships for military purposes. For years, the Guard has used vessels the size of small commercial fishing boats to shadow American aircraft carriers whenever they pass through the strait. Instead of bearing fishing poles, most have Soviet-era heavy machine guns bolted to their bows with a small rocket launcher atop. Using those small boats, Iran seized two cargo ships this week. A video released by the Guard showed its forces aboard patrol boats dwarfed by the massive container ships. Guardsmen opened fire on the cargo ships, then stormed the vessels, carrying assault rifles. Beyond their propaganda value, the seizures showed that nearly eight weeks into the war with the U.S. and Israel, with the American Navy imposing a blockade on Iran's coasts, the Guard can use limited resources to effectively shut down the strait and hold the global economy hostage. The "Tanker war" grew out of the fierce eight-year war between Iraq and Iran in the 1980s....