3 Kuwaiti Tankers Awaiting U.S. Flags
Three Kuwaiti tankers waited outside the Persian Gulf for new flags and U.S. Navy escorts, and Iran extended its “Martyrdom” naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz through Friday.
An executive based in Kuwait said the reflagging program was proceeding at “full speed.” He denied a London newspaper report that Iran and Kuwait are negotiating a deal by which Iran would not attack Kuwaiti ships if the emirate suspended the plan to put 11 of its 21 tankers under U.S. registration.
U.S. officials would not say when the tankers will be registered as U.S. vessels and given American flags so the Navy can escort them in the gulf, where Iran and Iraq have been at war since September, 1980. Shipping sources in the area predicted Friday at the earliest, with the next convoy leaving for Kuwait in a few days.
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