Psychological War: Iran Extends Its Maneuvers

Iran stepped up its psychological war against the United States on Thursday, extending naval maneuvers in the Persian Gulf for an additional day as a convoy of American ships made preparations to steam into the gulf.

Word of the extension of the maneuvers, which started on Tuesday under the code-name “Martyrdom,” was broadcast by Tehran radio.

In the first detailed Iranian account of the exercises, the broadcast said Revolutionary Guard units were rehearsing attacks on shipping, using vessels equipped with cannon “as well as remote-controlled vessels packed with explosives and pilotless planes.”

The broadcast appeared to be a thinly veiled warning to the United States, which Iran has threatened to retaliate against because of the last week’s violence in Mecca. Iran has accused Saudi Arabian authorities of massacring hundreds of Iranian pilgrims in Mecca at the behest of the United States.

Ships Warned

Iran has warned foreign shipping and warships to stay clear of Iranian territorial waters for the duration of the naval exercises.

A task force of U.S. warships has gathered off Khawr Fakkan, a port in the United Arab Emirates on the Gulf of Oman just outside the Strait of Hormuz, to begin the second convoy of reflagged Kuwaiti shipping.

Three Kuwaiti vessels have painted new American names on their hulls--the Gas King, the Ocean City and the Sea Isle City--signifying that they have been re-registered in the United States. After the ships hoist the American flag, they will set out with a U.S. Navy escort for the gulf.

The first escort mission began July 22, but it was blighted when a Kuwaiti supertanker renamed Bridgeton hit an underwater mine about 18 miles off the Iranian island of Farsi.

The Bridgeton has not been repaired but has been able to take on a partial cargo of about 230,000 tons of crude oil. It is at anchor waiting for the Navy to escort it out of the gulf.

Appeals to Kuwait

A London newspaper, the Independent, reported Thursday that Iran is quietly appealing to Kuwait to suspend the reflagging of its tanker fleet, offering in exchange a guarantee that Kuwaiti ships would not be attacked. The newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying an Iranian delegation has been in Kuwait this week to discuss the offer.

It quoted the sources as saying that the Iranian government, despite its aggressive public stance toward the United States, is alarmed at the prospect of a direct confrontation with the Americans. The paper, which takes an independent political line, said Kuwait’s response to the offer was not known.

In Washington, however, Secretary of State George P. Shultz said that as far as he knows, “there is nothing to the reports.”

The Iranian announcement on extending its maneuvers follows reports from Washington that special combat units are being sent to the Middle East to protect American warships against possible Iranian attack. The Iranian maneuvers involve units of Revolutionary Guards, brigades of volunteers and regular Iranian navy units. The exercises have taken on a surreal quality because there has been no independent confirmation of any activity near the Iranian coast, only the broadcasts by Tehran radio.

“In a coordinated move with the Revolutionary Guards, navy and frogmen, the 66th Airborne Brigade of the Revolutionary Guards ground forces sent in crack paratroopers, landing them at designated positions,” one broadcast said.

Shipping Not Impeded

Shipping in the gulf has not been impeded, despite earlier suggestions that some tankers were staying away during the maneuvers. An international channel leads through the Strait of Hormuz, and most shipping keeps well outside an Iranian war exclusion zone.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said that three of four diplomats abducted five days ago from the Saudi Embassy in Tehran by demonstrators protesting the violence in Mecca have been freed.

The official Saudi Press Agency quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman in Riyadh as saying “three employees abducted from the Saudi Embassy in Tehran have been released. The fate of the fourth colleague was still unknown.”

The spokesman, in a brief statement to the Saudi agency, gave no further details.

In Tehran, Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as delivering the latest in a string of warnings to Saudi Arabia since more than 400 people died in a clash last Friday between demonstrating Iranian pilgrims and Saudi security forces in Mecca.

Offices Cordoned Off

The spokesman said that Saudi security men cordoned off the Iranian Embassy in Riyadh and the Iranian Consulate in Jidda a few days ago, “creating much pressure.”

“Saudi forces have also threatened to open fire at the embassy and consulate while there were a number of children at the embassy,” he said, adding that unless “the siege” was lifted “we will severely counter this Saudi measure.”

A spokesman for the Saudi Foreign Ministry responded, “These are false accusations. The Iranian Embassy and consulate are carrying out their functions in total freedom.”

He said Saudi authorities are intent on guarding the Iranian facilities “against the wrath of citizens who could have stormed them and burned their contents and smashed the pictures of Iranian leaders just as the Iranian regime did with the Saudi Embassy in Tehran.”

In Bonn, according to the Reuters news agency, riot police broke up an Iranian demonstration against Saudi Arabia and arrested two men after supporters and opponents of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini shouted slogans denouncing the United States and Saudi Arabia.