New Delhi, March 12 -- Unblocking the Strait of Hormuz is shaping up as a remarkably complex and time-consuming task.

The fate of the global oil markets-and the global economy-rests on whether ships can traverse the 22-mile-wide waterway from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. More than 10 days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, there is no clear plan for reopening it. Military experts say the effort is so daunting it could take months to achieve, absent a fast and full cease-fire.

If anything, conditions in the strait have only gotten more dangerous since the war began. On Wednesday, three commercial ships near the strait were hit by a projectile, and Iran has been placing mines there, according to media reports.

The strait's...