Issue Date: August 21, 1987
Persian Gulf Crisis:More Ships Hit; Other Developments
· Blast Rips Saudi Facility
· U.S. Conducts Third Escort
International attention remained focused on the Persian Gulf region Aug. 15-20, as Iranian vessels fired at or near commercial ships, another ship sank after hitting a mine, a suspicious explosion rocked a Saudi Arabian oil facility, and the U.S. continued its escort of reflagged Kuwaiti tankers. [See 1987 Persian Gulf Crisis: Hostilities Widen]
The supply ship Anita Aug. 15 hit a mine in the Gulf of Oman, blew up and sank immediately. Five people were rescued, one body was recovered and five others--including the ship's British captain, Gerry Blackburn--were missing and presumed dead. The Anita, which flew a United Arab Emirates flag, had been servicing tankers off the U.A.E. port of Fujaira.
The explosion occurred in a previously safe anchorage, south of the Strait of Hormuz, that had been found seeded with mines the previous week, one of which had damaged a U.S.-owned supertanker carrying Iranian oil. After several days of mine hunting, the U.A.E. Aug. 14 lifted a danger exclusion zone off its coast and declared the area free of mines. A ship captain reported spotting a mine the same day, but U.A.E. officials dismissed it as merely the bloated hump of a dead camel. Following the Anita's destruction, shipping officials expressed anger over the premature declaration that the anchorage was safe.
Most observers believed the mines in the Gulf of Oman were Iranian and had been dropped from some of the countless small boats, known as dhows, that plied the waters of the region. Iran denied responsibility and had offered to conduct minesweeping operations off the U.A.E.
In other shipping developments: it was reported Aug. 15 that a Saudi frogman had died several days before while detonating a mine in the northern Persian Gulf; the Osco Sierra, a Norwegian-operated, Liberi an-registered chemical tanker, suffered minor damage Aug. 18 when it refused orders to stop and was fired on by two Iranian gunboats in the Strait of Hormuz; and an Iranian vessel Aug. 20 fired a warning shot across the bow of a Yugoslav freighter steaming off Dubai, forcing it to stop and submit to a search before being allowed to continue.
Blast Rips Saudi Facility
A huge blast Aug. 15 ripped through a showcase Arabian-American Oil Co. (Aramco) gas liquification plant at Ras al-Juaimah, on the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government imposed a news blackout on the incident, which it described as a "minor fire" caused by an electrical fault that injured four workers before being extinguished. Unconfirmed reports, however, suggested that up to 22 people might have died in a blast that shook houses 15 miles (25 km) away. (The U.S. State Department reported that no Americans were injured.)
Many observers and diplomats believed Iranian-sponsored Shiite Moslem saboteurs were responsible for the explosion. Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority was concentrated in the kingdom's oil-rich eastern provinces. Similar blasts in nearby Kuwait--most recently the May 22 explosion of a propane storage tank at Kuwait's main oil facility--had been attributed to Kuwaiti Shiites acting at Iran's behest. [See 1987 Islamic Conference: Kuwait Hosts Summit]
Iranian parliament speaker Hojatolislam Ali Akbar Hasheimi Rafsanjani Aug. 16 expressed approval of the Saudi explosion, attributing it to divine intervention in the wake of recent Mecca riot. Hundreds of Iranians had died in the riot, and Iran had vowed to "uproot" Saudi rulers in retribution. [See 1987 402 Die in Mecca as Iranians Riot; Persian Gulf Tensions Rise]
Rafsanjani suggested that if Iran's oil exports through the gulf were halted, it would retaliate with attacks against Arab overland pipelines. Saudi Arabia relied to a significant degree on such pipelines to export its oil, while Iraq was virtually completely dependent on them.
Rafsanjani also said that Iran had "a mine-producing factory which could produce mines like seeds." Teheran was previously reported to have obtained antiquated Russian mines by way of North Korea, but analysts said Iran certainly had the technical knowledge and industrial base to produce such contact mines on its own.
Iranian television Aug. 18 reported that a group called Hizballah (the Party of God) in Hejaz, Saudi Arabia, had claimed responsibility for the Ras al-Juaimah blast in a statement issued in west Beirut.
U.S. Conducts Third Escort
The U.S.S. Guadalcanal slipped through the Strait of Hormuz, traveling in darkness Aug. 15, and arrived off Bahrain Aug. 16 with eight Sea Stallion helicopters for use in minesweeping operations. The helicopters Aug. 17 held maneuvers in which they practiced dragging sonar buoys and sled devices through the water to locate and detonate mines.
Four more unladen Kuwaiti tankers, registered and sailing under American flags, entered the Persian Gulf Aug. 19 escorted by a U.S. Navy destroyer and two frigates. Sea Stallions flew ahead of the slow-moving convoy, trolling for mines. Traveling alongside the convoy, and protecting it against possible attack by Iranian speedboats, were smaller Sea Cobra helicopter gunships and a fast patrol craft manned with riflemen.
It was the third U.S. escort of reflagged Kuwaiti tankers into the gulf. Four other tankers, already loaded, were awaiting a U.S. escort from Kuwait out of the gulf.
In related developments:
· U.S. officials Aug. 19 said the Pentagon had decided to order the Navy to activate at least eight reserve minesweepers and dispatch them to the gulf. The wooden-hulled ocean-going vessels, dating from the mid-1950s, would be towed to the region to reduce wear on their engines. The trip would reportedly take more than a month.
· Pentagon officials Aug. 20 said they were establishing a special centralized command in the gulf region to ensure the coordination of the various parts of the growing U.S. military buildup there. The move followed bureaucratic bickering between the Navy and the joint services Central Command. The Navy's Pacific Fleet commanded the U.S.S. Constellation aircraft carrier battle group deployed just outside the gulf. The Central Command (formerly the Rapid Deployment Force), based in Tampa, Fla. and headed by Marine Gen. George B. Crist, was responsible for the Middle East Fleet operating inside the gulf.