The World - News from March 20, 1987

In a warning to Iran against escalating the Persian Gulf shipping war, the United States has moved an aircraft carrier battle group into the northern Arabian Sea, U.S. officials disclosed. The move puts the battle group in striking distance of Chinese-built Iranian missiles reported within range of the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Iran test-fired missiles several times in recent weeks, the officials said. One source said that the presence of the Navy’s Indian Ocean battle group, led by the carrier Kitty Hawk, was meant to convey a warning to Iran: “If they shoot at anybody with those missiles, they can be eliminated.”