Increasingly irritated by the world's critique of its blossoming nuclear program, Iran announced Monday it is gearing up its military to practice closing the Strait of Hormuz.

Reuters Africa reports that a member of Iran's parliament National Security Committee said the Army is ready to begin the exercise, but when contacted by the news agency, the Iranian military declined to comment.

Iranian lawmaker, Parviz Sarvari, told the student news organization ISNA, "Soon we will hold a military manoeuvre on how to close the Strait of Hormuz. If the world wants to make the region insecure, we will make the world insecure."

Monday's announcement comes just weeks after Iran's energy minister told Al Jazeera that Tehran was prepared to use oil as a political tool in any "conflict over its nuclear program." Iran has been subject to a series of unexplained factory blasts with the most recent occuring on Sunday.

This is seemingly the next step in Iran's war preparations begun after the November 8 IAEA report condemning Tehran for its nuclear weapons ambitions.

A third of all sea-borne oil in the world passed through the Strait of Hormuz in 2009, and if Iran wants to get the world's attention, even more than it already has, shutting down the Straight would certainly do it.

The U.S. Navy actively patrols the area with warships to prevent just such a situation from arising.