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Iran has upgraded preparations for war which have included threats of retaliation against the world's oil supply.

Gulf Arab officials said Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has been planting mines in the Gulf. The officials said most of the mines were placed in Iran's territorial waters.

"This is a clear message by Iran that it is preparing for war," a Kuwaiti defense official said.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz. Teheran has also warned that it would target Gulf Cooperation Council states in any retaliation for a U.S. attack.

Officials said the U.S. Navy and its Western allies plan to deploy at least one additional strike carrier group in the Gulf. They said the carrier group was expected to arrive in the Gulf by mid-September.

Officials said the U.S. Navy has been monitoring Iranian mining of the Gulf. So far, they said, the mining has not significantly hampered U.S. or other naval vessels.

In late 2007 and early 2008, IRGC confronted U.S. Navy vessels around the Strait of Hormuz, passage for more than 30 percent of global oil shipments. The United States has not reported such a confrontation since April 2008. 

"Merely talking about such a closure [of the Strait of Hormuz] creates a state of tension and will raise the insurance costs on vessels passing through," Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Mohammed Al Salem Al Sabah said. "We are now paying additional shipping costs because of an [Iranian] statement, which may be a trial balloon or a war of words." 

Over the last two years, Iran has increased exercises and maneuvers in the Gulf. In July 2008, IRGC was said to have arrested a Kuwaiti national during an Iranian naval exercise. Iran has since denied holding the Kuwaiti. 

Series of exercises geared to readiness for region-wide war 

Western intelligence sources said Iran has engaged in a series of intensive exercises designed to enhance combat readiness for a war in the Gulf. 

The sources said Teheran has been steadily testing both regular military units as well as those of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to determine their level of combat skills, interoperability and command.

"The exercises envision Iran fighting a total and regional war that would include Iraq, the Gulf and Israel," an intelligence source said. "The exercises are meant to test Iran's combat sustainability as well as the prospect for regime survival during war."

The sources said Iran was expected to launch a major exercise every six weeks to test the military and security forces. They said the Great Prophet-3 exercise demonstrated both internal security skills as well as the ability to sustain missile and rocket attacks against such neighbors as Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Over the next few weeks, Iran was scheduled to conduct a major air force exercise. The sources said the exercise would test the ability to protect Iranian air space as well as reconnaissance, air transport and other skills.

The sources said IRGC has established a command, control and communications system in most of Iran's 30 provinces. They said the C3 system was being tested for the ability to rapidly respond to any rebellion incited by the United States.

IRGC has also been testing its ability to sustain rocket and missile strikes throughout the region. They said Great Prophet-3 included a phase in which units rapidly brought weapons from underground arsenals and fired the projectiles toward U.S. ships and other assets around the Gulf.

"The military preparations are expected to be completed sometime at the end of September," the intelligence source said. "This would provide the leadership with answers as to whether Teheran could fight the United States and survive."