Iranian Gunboats Attack Saudi Tanker

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates —  Iranian gunboats attacked a Saudi Arabian chemical tanker Wednesday in the southern Persian Gulf.

The attack was described as another move in Iran’s effort to apply internal pressure on the Saudi regime, which supports Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War.

Shipping sources said that the tanker, the 21,032-ton Raad al Bakry VIII, was attacked by three Iranian gunboats at about 4 a.m. The tanker is owned by a Saudi firm in Jidda and was off the coast of Dubai at the time of the attack.

The Iranians reportedly raked the vessel with machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades. There were no injuries among the crew, and damage to the ship was described as minor. The ship continued on its course to the Red Sea.

Meanwhile, Iraqi aircraft reportedly raided an Iranian communications center at Ilam, about 120 miles east of Baghdad. The raid was described as retaliation for an Iranian rocket attack on Baghdad on Monday night. According to the official Iraqi News Agency, all the planes returned safely.

In another development, the Japanese government announced in Tokyo that it will contribute about $10 million toward the protection of shipping in the Persian Gulf. It said it will also raise the level of its economic and technological aid to countries in the gulf region.

According to a Foreign Ministry official, the $10 million will go to “high-accuracy radio aids” to be installed in gulf nations to relay information on mine-sweeping and other data to ships in the waterway. The official did not describe the equipment or say what countries would have access to the information.

Wednesday’s attack on the Saudi tanker was the first by Iran since last Thursday and followed a dramatic Iraqi air raid Monday on the Larak and Hormuz oil terminals near the Strait of Hormuz, at the mouth of the gulf. Five Iranian storage ships were hit in Monday’s raid.

Retaliation Policy

Iran has a policy of retaliating for Iraqi air raids with attacks on shipping in the gulf. Western analysts said they believe that Iran’s assault on the Saudi tanker Wednesday was part of an Iranian campaign to increase internal pressure within Saudi Arabia, which is one of Iraq’s primary benefactors in its war against Iran.

Last Saturday, a number of Iranian speedboats reportedly approached an oil terminal operated jointly by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait at Ras al Khafji but turned back when Saudi jet fighters were sent to the area.

There were reports Wednesday from Washington that about 50 Iranian speedboats had assembled near the Iranian oil terminal at Kharg Island and that they were loaded with explosives ready for an attack. There was no independent confirmation of these reports.

Tension between the Saudis and Iranians has been high since July 31, when about 400 people were killed in a clash at Mecca between Iranian pilgrims and Saudi policemen. The incident erupted when the police tried to disperse a demonstration by the Iranian pilgrims. Both sides accused the other of starting the violence.

A West European analyst said Wednesday that the Iranians have been careful to avoid a direct confrontation with the growing Western naval presence in the gulf.

“It’s a public relations exercise more than a desire to inflict real damage,” the analyst said, referring to the attacks against Saudi installations and ships. “The Iranian ability to do a large amount of damage is fairly limited.”

Meanwhile, in Washington, Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger scrapped a tentative plan to send a small number of Coast Guard patrol cutters and aircraft to the Persian Gulf, deciding the vessels weren’t needed.

“There are no plans to send Coast Guard boats or aircraft to the Persian Gulf,” announced Fred Hoffman, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman.