New Delhi, 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 es...