Download UK Closes Iran Arms Office

Issue Date: September 25, 1987
U.S. Attacks, Seizes Iranian Mine Ship
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Helicopter Strafes Vessel in Night Raid
26 Iranians Rescued, Detained
U.K. Tanker Hit, Survey Ship Sunk
Reagan, Khamenei Address U.N.
U.K. Closes Iran Arms Office
Helicopter Strafes Vessel in Night Raid
A U.S. helicopter Sept. 21 attacked and disabled an Iranian naval vessel that was
allegedly laying mines in the Persian Gulf, after which American forces seized the ship
and its crew. Three Iranian sailors were killed, two others were missing and presumed
dead and four were wounded. It was the first confirmed armed clash between the two
countries since the U.S. Navy began escorting reflagged Kuwaiti tankers through the gulf
in July. [See 1987 Persian Gulf Crisis: U.N. Chief Visits Region]
The Reagan administration described the attack as a legitimate defensive act sanctioned
by international law. Iran denied that the ship was a mine-layer and threatened revenge
against the U.S. The incident came at a sensitive time, one day before Iran's president
addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Meanwhile, a British-flag
tanker was raided by Iranian gunboats, and a small survey ship hit a mine and sank. [See
below]
The U.S.-Iranian clash occurred at night in international waters 50 miles (80 km)
northeast of Bahrain. The Iran Ajr--variously described as an amphibious landing craft
and a roll-on, roll-off cargo vessel had been under surveillance by a helicopter based on
the frigate U. S.S. Jarrett. The aircraft was actually an Army special operations helicopter
assigned to the gulf fleet because of its sophisticated night-vision capabilities.
The Iranian ship was observed dropping mines into the water, an act that merited an
armed response according to the Navy's revised rules of engagement for the gulf.
Washington had warned that it would respond forcefully if it could prove Iranian
involvement in mine-laying. (The U.S. said it had not been able to do so when the
supertanker Bridgeton struck a mine during the first escort operation.)
After receiving authority from Rear Adm. Harold Bernsen, commander of the U.S. gulf
fleet, the helicopter's pilots opened fire on the Iranian vessel with rockets and machine
guns. Contrary to some initial reports, no effort was made to communicate with the Iran
Ajr and no warning shots were fired.
Bernsen told reporters in a Pentagon media pool Sept. 22 that the Iranian crew resumed
dropping mines after the first attack, so the ship was strafed again 34 minutes later. The
second attack left the ship dead in the water with its stern in flames, and the crew
abandoned ship.
26 Iranians Rescued, Detained
U.S. forces, fearful of hitting one of the mines dropped by the ship, waited until daybreak
on Sept. 22 before moving in to begin rescue operations. A team of Navy SEAL
commandos boarded and seized the ship. They found three dead crewmen and 10
remaining contact mines. Reporters were later brought aboard and allowed to film the
devices, which were shown to be large spiked spheres mounted on wheeled canisters.
(The ensemble was designed to be rolled into the water together, after which the canister
acted as a mooring anchor for the mine, which would float just beneath the surface.)
Later, as U.S. warships gathered near the disabled vessel, the Jarrett fired warning shots
at an Iranian navy hovercraft when it refused warnings to cease its high-speed approach.
The hovercraft then turned away.
Ten Iranians were found in a lifeboat and 16 others were rescued from the sea. The most
seriously wounded crewmen were transferred to hospital facilities aboard the U.S.S.
Guadalcanal. Some of the other captives were filmed by the American media pool aboard
the command ship U.S.S. LaSalle as they lay bound on stretchers under guard by armed
sailors.
Asked if the detainees were being treated humanely, a U.S. official told the Washington
Post, "Well, they weren't beaten."
The precise status of the Iran Ajr and its crew was unclear. While said to be a naval
vessel, it was officially registered as a commercial ship. U.S. Defense Secretary Caspar
Weinberger, on the eve of a trip to the gulf, Sept. 23 said the crew was from the regular
Iranian navy. Previously, Iranian mine-laying had been attributed to the more fanatical
Revolutionary Guards, which operated separately from the professional navy.
Weinberger also said that some of the captured Iranians had been "somewhat helpful in
telling us" the locations where their ship had planted mines. Pentagon officials Sept. 24
said the Navy believed it had found all six or seven mines dropped by the Iran Ajr before
it was attacked.
The U.S. Navy Sept. 24 concluded an agreement to repatriate the captives to Iran by way
of Oman. (Oman, a pro-Western sultanate, had maintained strong trade links with Iran at
the same time that it quietly provided limited landing rights to U.S. military aircraft.)
However, the Reagan administration said it had no intention of returning the Iran Ajr to
Iran.
U.S. officials, meanwhile, had bragged of catching the Iranians "red-handed" with
videotape footage of the mine-laying that preceded the attack. The tape was to have been
offered to the United Nations as definitive evidence against Iran. But embarrassed
Pentagon officials admitted Sept. 24 that the tape made by the U.S. helicopter's
supposedly night-capable cameras had come up blank.
"It happens all the time," White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said. "You can go to
Fotomat (a retail photodevelopment chain) and have the same problems."
U.K. Tanker Hit, Survey Ship Sunk
Several hours before the U.S.-Iranian clash Sept. 21, an Iranian gunboat ambushed a
U.K.-registered tanker, the Gentle Breeze, in the northern gulf. The ship was hit by more
than a dozen rocket-propelled grenades and set ablaze. A Filipino crewman was killed
and 33 others were injured. The attack occurred in the vicinity of Farsi Island, used by
Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a base for their speedboat fleet.
It was the most serious Iranian attack yet on a commercial vessel ship flying the flag of a
nation that had warships in the gulf, as Britain did. However, London's small Armilla
Patrol did not accompany British vessels beyond Bahrain, well to the south of the attack
on the Gentle Breeze.
British defense chiefs Sept. 22 ruled out "for the moment" expanding the size and range
of the Royal Navy's operations in the gulf. Although outraged by the attack on the tanker,
they reportedly viewed it as a one-time event.
In a separate incident, shipping sources Sept. 24 reported that a small survey ship had
struck a mine and sank early Sept. 22, also near Farsi Island. The 180-ton Marissa I, of
Panamanian registry, apparently sank so fast it had no time to broadcast a distress signal.
Four crewmen were missing and presumed dead and three others survived.
Reagan, Khamenei Address U.N.
President Reagan, in a Sept. 21 address to the opening session of the U.N. General
Assembly, called on the Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran unless it agreed to
a cease-fire resolution in the Persian Gulf war. He was apparently unaware of the U.S.
attack on the Iran Ajr at the time of his appearance. [See 1987 United Nations: Leaders
Address General Assembly; Other Developments]
In his wide-ranging speech, Reagan called on the U.N. to enact a global arms embargo
against Teheran unless Iranian President Hojatolislam Ali Khamenei "clearly and
unequivocally" accepted Security Council Resolution 598 when he spoke to the assembly
the next day.
Khamenei rebutted Reagan's appeal in his harsh Sept. 22 speech. The appearance of the
turbaned cleric--the first senior Iranian leader to address the U.N. since Iran's 1979
Islamic revolution--caused something of a stir, with Iranians in the gallery shouting out
"Allah Akbar!" ("God is great!")
Khamenei rejected Washington's account of the attack on the Iran Ajr as a "pack of lies"
and warned that the U.S. "shall receive a proper response for this abominable act." His
remarks prompted the American delegation to walk out.
Khamenei's speech dwelt at length on what he said were the misunderstood nature of the
Iranian revolution and the shortcomings of the U.N. itself. While he did not explicitly
reject the cease-fire resolution, he criticized the Security Council as a "paper factory for
issuing worthless and ineffective orders." He said it had been "pushed into this indecent,
condemnable position by the will of some big powers, particularly the United States." He
also reiterated Teheran's basic demand that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein be
"punished" as the "aggressor" who started the Persian Gulf war.
It was believed that one of Khamenei's goals in coming to New York--which was
overshadowed by the U.S.-Iranian clash in the gulf--was to gain favorable media
publicity for Teheran's positions. To that end, he held meetings with U.S. editors and was
interviewed on ABC's Night line.
U.K. Closes Iran Arms Office
British Foreign Minister Sir Geoffrey Howe addressed the General Assembly Sept. 23
and joined the U.S. call for a U.N. arms embargo against Iran. He also announced that
Britain was closing Iran's arms procurement office in London in response to the recent
Iranian attack on a British tanker, which he described as "the last straw." The
controversial office did the paperwork on an estimated 70% of Iran's worldwide weapons
purchases. [See 1987 Iran-U.K. Feud: Expulsions Traded]