The Gulf Here a Mine, There a Mine

By John Greenwald

The waters outside the Persian Gulf resembled a floating parking lot. Scores of empty supertankers, flying the flags of Panama, Japan, Pakistan and many other countries, lay at anchor last week in the Gulf of Oman, as did half a dozen U.S. warships. A menacing cluster of mines had brought the world's busiest oil traffic to a sudden and embarrassing halt. One after another, the explosives bobbed into sight. By week's end at least five had been spotted, and every tiny fishing boat that sailed by was carefully watched in case it tried to plant more of the dangerous devices.

The mines, discovered after one blasted a hole in the U.S.-owned tanker Texaco Caribbean, added a lethal new twist to Washington's showdown with Iran. The explosives were the first to be found in the Gulf of Oman, a vital staging area for ships plying the Persian Gulf. Although the U.S.-escorted Bridgeton struck what appeared to be an Iranian mine last month, that mishap occurred hundreds of miles inside the Persian Gulf. One result of the new danger was a change of heart by Britain and France, which decided to rush minesweepers to the region after all.

After a silence of two days, Washington reluctantly acknowledged that a Navy fighter had fired a pair of Sparrow missiles at an approaching Iranian jet over the Strait of Hormuz. The targeted plane veered away at the last moment and was not harmed, but the episode illustrated the high state of American readiness to respond to any attacks in the area. In the waters below, American warships led three more reflagged tankers to Kuwait, bringing the total to five since the escort operation began last month. Meanwhile, Iraq broke a 25-day pause in its air strikes against Iran, which have taken a heavy toll in the seven-year Iran-Iraq war. The Iraqis staged more than 100 air raids against Iranian oil fields and a major refinery in the northwestern city of Tabriz.

Iran remained relatively calm following a fit of frenzy two weeks ago. After blaming the U.S. for riots that killed nearly 300 Iranian pilgrims in Mecca, Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini launched four days of war games in the strait and loudly promised to settle the score. Late last week an explosion at an Aramco gas plant on the Saudi Arabian coast raised fears that Iran was stepping up its campaign of terrorist subversion against its gulf neighbors. Some 20 workers were killed. Earlier, Iranian officials paid lip service to a United Nations Security Council resolution that called for an end to the Iran- Iraq war. Iran's U.N. Ambassador, Said Rajaie-Khorassani, declared that Iran would cooperate with peace efforts, but noted that his country neither accepted nor rejected the U.N. plan.

The skirmish in the skies marked the first encounter between U.S. and Iranian forces since Khomeini took power in 1979. The incident occurred while a U.S. P-3 Orion reconnaissance plane and two F-14 Tomcat fighters were flying over the Persian Gulf toward Oman. Suddenly two aging F-4 Phantom jets rose up from Iran's Bandar Abbas air base, near the Strait of Hormuz, and streaked toward the American planes. The Iranians kept coming even after two more Tomcats swept down from a higher altitude and tried to warn them off by radio. One of the Tomcat pilots ordered his weapons officer to open fire once the Phantoms approached within 20 miles. Apparently alerted to the oncoming missiles by radar-tracking systems aboard their planes, the Iranian jets swooped away.

In Washington the Reagan Administration pointedly declined to discuss the encounter, but the White House seemed mildly embarrassed that the Sparrows had missed their targets. "That's not a good sign," said National Security Adviser Frank Carlucci. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger even refused to confirm that the attack had occurred. Said he: "Our whole effort here is not to provoke, not to get into a war, not to do anything of the kind." White House Spokesman Marlin Fitzwater perfectly captured the absurdity of the Administration's refusal to talk about the episode. After acknowledging that "the President was informed soon after the incident happened," Fitzwater declined to elaborate on the "incident that I'm not confirming."

Two days later the Texaco Caribbean was slowly steaming south through the Gulf of Oman. Flying the Panamanian flag, the tanker had just loaded up with Iranian oil at Larak Island terminal in the Persian Gulf. Suddenly, eight miles from the United Arab Emirates' port of Fujairah, an explosion rocked the ship, ripping a gash ten feet wide in its hull. As oil oozed into the sea and sailors hosed down the deck, the Texaco Caribbean limped farther offshore to avoid contaminating nearby beaches with oil. Western diplomats speculated that the device was intended for the U.S.-escorted tanker convoy, which had steamed through the area two days earlier.

Five other mines were quickly spotted, their spikes protruding ominously as they bobbed in the sea. If the mines looked rather primitive, there was good reason: most of them were based on a World War I design. According to Defense Department officials, some of the explosives were manufactured by the Soviets. Moscow sold large numbers of the mines to North Korea, which apparently resold them to Iran. The devices pack up to 2,000 lbs. of TNT; when a ship hits the mine, the spikes release acid that detonates the charge.

The discovery of the floating bombs in an area once considered safe immediately halted tanker traffic. Oman and the United Arab Emirates quickly dispatched boats and helicopters to hunt for the mines. Gunners tried to explode the devices by blasting them with rifle and cannon fire. Despite the efforts, a small commercial supply ship blew up late last week, apparently after hitting a mine off the coast of Oman.

Though Britain and France had rejected U.S. pleas for minesweepers two weeks ago, both now felt compelled to act. London announced it was sending four mine hunters to join the three-warship Armilla Patrol that has escorted British tankers in the region for the past six years. Defense Secretary George Younger, however, insisted that the vessels would be used only to protect British ships in the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz.

Paris ordered three minesweepers and support ships to join a French naval detachment that is gathering in the region. That display of muscle is designed to strengthen France's hand in its continuing diplomatic standoff with Iran. The two countries severed relations last month after France blockaded Iran's embassy in Paris, where an interpreter suspected of terrorism is hiding. Iran responded by surrounding the French embassy in Tehran and holding 15 French citizens hostage inside.

Though both Paris and London made it clear that they were acting on their own, the Reagan Administration was delighted. Weinberger again called for an international minesweeping force to patrol the region, but the allies continued to spurn that proposal. The U.S.S. Guadalcanal, carrying eight Sea Stallion minesweeping helicopters, is not scheduled to reach the Persian Gulf until later this month, and British and French sweepers are not due to arrive until mid-September.

The U.S. presence in the region already totals 24 vessels and about 17,000 men. With the British and French ships, the armada will grow to 45 combat ships, the largest naval force in the area since World War II. Not everyone applauds that buildup. A bipartisan group of 100 Congressmen filed suit in Washington two weeks ago to compel President Reagan to invoke the 1973 War Powers Act. That measure, designed to give Congress a voice in military crises, would require the Administration to withdraw U.S. forces within 60 days unless Congress approves a longer stay. The case will take months to decide, and months more will be needed to challenge whatever verdict is reached.

Many on Capitol Hill have complained about the apparent unwillingness of the Arab states to aid the U.S. militarily. Though Weinberger refused to divulge the details, he vigorously contended, "We are getting significant and welcome help from a lot of other countries." Weinberger has a point. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, for example, rushed search and rescue ships to the stricken U.S.S. Stark after an Iraqi fighter plane accidentally attacked the frigate last May, killing 37 men. Several Arab ports in the gulf, including Bahrain and Dubai, permit U.S. Navy ships to make rest-and-relaxation stops; sailors, however, must wear civilian clothes on land and obey curfews. Despite official denials, Kuwait has offered to provide free fuel and maintenance for the U.S. warships that escort its reflagged vessels.

Nonetheless, the growing tensions in the gulf continue to benefit an unlikely party: Iran. Last month the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Iran-Iraq war. Iraq responded by curtailing air sorties against Iranian oil fields and halting strikes on tankers carrying Iranian oil. The U.S. naval presence has also discouraged Iraqi air attacks. All that has enabled Iran to boost its oil exports through the Persian Gulf from an estimated 1.5 million bbl. a day last month to an estimated 1.9 million bbl. today, greatly increasing its revenues.

Sometimes, however, even Khomeini gets caught in his own net. Iranian mines have now become the greatest single threat to shipping in the region, a fact that was underscored by the fate that befell the Texaco Caribbean last week. But mines are indiscriminate weapons, and in a sense Iran has mined itself as well. After all, the Texaco Caribbean was loaded with Iranian oil.

With reporting by David S. Jackson/Bahrain and Barrett Seaman/Washington