::::::::
The Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, by Wikipedia
The biggest problem with war conducted from ships in the Persian Gulf is the shallowness of the Straits of Hormutz; see the above map. The Straights are WIDE enough, but they are very shallow (it's like the desert extends from one horn of the entrance to the Gulf to the other). So if America sends ships thru the Straits into the Gulf, Iran could bombard the straits with conventional weapons rendering them impassable, and the American ships would be trapped in the Gulf and easy pickings for Iran's totally conventional weapons. The above map shows the southeast end of the Persian Gulf, the entire northeastern shore of which is Persia (ie, Iran).
*****
