Ship Boarding Risks Violence, U.S. Declares : But White House Mutes Earlier Criticism of Iran

Although the Iranian navy may have been acting within the traditional rights of a nation at war when it boarded an American cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, such searches for weapons raise the risk of misunderstandings “and even violence,” the chief White House spokesman said Monday.

The Reagan Administration was muted in its criticism of Sunday’s Iranian action, and the lawyer for American President Lines, owners of the ship, accused the Administration of “backing around” the question of whether the Iranians acted legally.

The Navy sent two warships to the assistance of the merchant vessel, the President Taylor, a 22,000-ton bulk cargo carrier. But, a Pentagon spokesman said, the incident is over and the Iranians, searching for weapons and other supplies destined for Iraq, “were long gone before our vessels got to the scene.”

Destroyer and Frigate

The warships were identified by a Navy source as the destroyer Conolly and the guided missile frigate Boone. They arrived in the region Sunday afternoon after passing through the Strait of Hormuz from the Persian Gulf.

They remained on station in the region, just beyond the strait, on Monday, the source said, speaking on the condition he not be further identified.

The Reagan Administration initially was sharp in its criticism, with White House spokesman Larry Speakes describing the situation as “volatile.” But by mid-afternoon, in apparently coordinated statements, he and State Department spokesman Bernard Kalb presented the Iranian action in less strident terms.

Speakes observed that for five months, Iran has been searching neutral ships in the Persian Gulf, stopping vessels from Kuwait, Italy, West Germany, Denmark, Yugoslavia, Poland and Japan. Sunday’s search was the first naval incident involving a U.S. merchant vessel in the five-year-old war between Iran and Iraq.

“The rules of naval warfare have traditionally accorded a belligerent certain rights to ascertain whether neutral shipping is being used to provide contraband to an opposing belligerent,” Speakes said.

But, he said, “we consider the Iranian policy of stopping and searching neutral shipping in the gulf region to be one of the significant consequences created by the Iran-Iraq War. We have stated our deep concern about this incident because of the danger of misunderstandings, overstepping of rights and norms, and even violence, which are inherent in all ship search incidents.”

The State Department said the United States warned mariners last Sept. 20 to exercise extreme caution in the Persian Gulf and surrounding waters in response to the war, in which merchant ships have been targets, and to the Iranian searches. That warning was renewed Jan. 2. However, the Navy is not escorting American merchant vessels in the region.

British Vessel Stopped

On Monday, the British Foreign Office in London reported that a British ship was stopped, searched and then released 11 miles outside of Iranian territorial waters off Oman.

Richard Tavrow, senior vice president and general counsel of American President Line of Oakland, took issue with the Administration’s interpretation of the incident involving his company’s ship, saying:

“I think the Administration is kind of backing around the issue as to whether this is legal or not, saying belligerent nations have done it. We don’t agree with the legal principle that a ship can be stopped.”

He said in a telephone interview that the line has not sent any ships into the Persian Gulf and has come no nearer than the United Arab Emirates port of Fujaira, on the Gulf of Oman.

Ship Nearly Empty

Tavrow said the President Taylor, which entered the port after the search, was nearly empty, carrying a small cargo of cotton when it was stopped. The ship is expected to sail for India sometime after Jan. 18, carrying wheat and other grain.

The seven armed Iranians who conducted the search “were polite” and remained on board about 45 minutes, the shipping line official said. A Navy source added, “They were very professional.”

The Iranians released the vessel after consulting by radio with others off the ship, another Navy source said, adding, “They were taking orders from somebody.”

The Navy maintains five ships in its Middle East force, on routine patrol in the region. The Boone and Conolly responded to the President Taylor’s distress signal upon the orders of the commander of the Middle East force, the Navy said.