TEHRAN, Iran — The U.S. warned Iran on Wednesday it will not tolerate any disruption of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran threatened to choke off the vital Persian Gulf oil transport route if Washington imposes sanctions targeting its crude exports.

The increasingly heated exchange raises new tensions in a standoff that has the potential to spark military reprisals and propel oil prices to levels that could batter a global economy already grappling with a European debt crisis.

Iran’s navy chief boasted Wednesday that it would be “very easy” for his country’s forces to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the passage at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a sixth of the world’s oil passes daily.

“Iran has comprehensive control over the strategic waterway,” Adm. Habibollah Sayyari said, as the country was in the midst of a 10-day military drill near the strategic waterway.

Pa. hospital system to test for nicotineDANVILLE — A major Pennsylvania health system will begin testing new hires for nicotine starting in February.Danville-based Geisinger Health Systems says it will begin testing for use of cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, snuff, nicotine patches and gum as part of routine drug screening.At least two other hospital systems in the state have already implemented similar policies.Amy Brayford, Geisinger’s head of human resources, says the goal is to improve the health of employees and provide a healthier environment for patients. Officials say the policy will apply only to incoming employees.Geisinger serves more than 2.6 million residents in central and northeastern Pennsylvania and has nearly 15,000 employees.

Marvel wins NYC Ghost Rider disputeNEW YORK — A New York City judge has ruled comic book publisher Marvel Entertainment owns the rights to the Ghost Rider character in the fiery form that originated in the early 1970s.Federal Judge Katherine Forrest made the finding Wednesday, tossing out the claims of a man who says he created the motorcycle-driving Ghost Rider with the skeletal head that sometimes had fire blazing from it. A Ghost Rider of the 1950s and ’60s was a Western character who rode a horse.The judge says a writer who brought a 2007 lawsuit to claim ownership rights gave up those rights repeatedly when he signed checks containing language relinquishing all rights to Marvel Entertainment LLC.Telephone messages left with lawyers on both sides of the dispute haven’t been returned.