2 Iranian Gunboats Attack French Freighter in Gulf

Two Iranian gunboats pounded a French freighter with rocket and machine-gun fire for 20 minutes before dawn today in the Persian Gulf. Iraq said later that its warplanes raided a nearby Iranian island.

No casualties were reported in the freighter attack off Saudi Arabia.

Capt. Max Gangneur of the 24,540-ton container ship Ville d’Anvers said by radio that fire from the Iranian vessels raked the crew’s quarters at 2:25 a.m. while most of the 19 French sailors were sleeping.

“It’s a miracle we suffered no casualties,” said Gangneur, 49. He said the freighter’s hull and engine room were badly damaged and its electricity supply was cut off.

Hit After Unloading

The Ville d’Anvers was hit about 100 miles south of Kuwait’s al-Shuaiba port, where it had unloaded cargo. Iran began last September to concentrate its gulf attacks on ships owned by or serving the emirate, which supports Iraq in the nearly 7-year-old war.

Gangneur’s ship was headed for Dubai but changed course for the repair facilities of Bahrain after the attack.

The vessel was hit about 40 miles off Farsiyah, which is midway between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Farsiyah is one of several Iranian islands on which the Revolutionary Guards base their gunboats.

Iraq said within hours of the attack that its jets bombed oil installations on Farsiyah, inflicting “devastating blows.”

Kuwait Reflagging

Because of increased Iranian attacks on Kuwaiti shipping, the United States is registering 11 of the emirate’s tankers so they can fly the American flag and be given U.S. Navy protection.

The Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s revolutionary Iranian regime has said Navy escorts will not deter it from attacking ships that serve Kuwaiti ports.

The first reflagged Kuwait vessel is expected to enter the gulf about July 18 or 20. Eight U.S. Navy ships are stationed in or near the Persian Gulf.

Kuwait also has leased three tankers from the Soviet Union. The Soviets have three warships in the gulf. A three-ship British flotilla escorts British-flag ships. France has two warships in the region.

Iraq began attacking Iranian oil facilities and shipping in February, 1984, in an effort to choke off the oil exports that pay its enemy’s expenses in the war, which began in September, 1980.

Iran retaliated with its own attacks on shipping and the “tanker war” was on. More than 270 vessels have been hit since.