Reagan Blasts Iran for ‘Outrageous’ Gulf Act : Speculation Rises on Military Retaliation

President Reagan angrily blamed Iran on Friday for committing “an outrageous act of aggression” in its missile attack on a U.S.-registered tanker anchored off Kuwait, prompting speculation that the United States would launch a retaliatory military strike.

Reagan, who was awakened at 12:40 a.m. and informed of the attack by National Security Adviser Frank C. Carlucci, about 1 1/2 hours after it occurred, met with high-level Administration officials throughout the day but gave no indication whether plans for retaliation were being set in motion. The Pentagon did not present Reagan with options until early Friday evening.

The President, asked how he could allow Iran to “get away” with Friday’s attack without facing U.S. retaliation, told reporters: “I think maybe you’re jumping to conclusions.”

Nevertheless, Vice President George Bush said in a television interview in Palo Alto, “Nobody is looking to step this up to all-out war, but we must respond in kind.”

The apparently heightened possibility of escalated U.S. military involvement in the Persian Gulf led a number of senators to immediately press the White House to invoke the Wars Powers Resolution, which gives Congress authority to limit U.S. military presence in a region where troops face imminent hostilities.

Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said after being briefed on the situation by Carlucci, “Iran should be on notice that if they use these missiles on American ships they are going to be exposing themselves to possible and even probable retaliation.” Nunn did not state his position on the War Powers Resolution issue.

Reagan’s New Dilemma

The latest attack, which injured the American skipper of the tanker Sea Isle City and wounded at least 17 others aboard the vessel, raised a new dilemma for the President: Whether to carry out his oft-stated vow to retaliate for strikes at U.S. targets or let the incident pass without a direct response to avoid significantly deepening American military involvement in the explosive gulf region.

The attack, the first against any of the 11 Kuwaiti tankers re-registered as American ships and flying the U.S. Flag, was considered much more serious than one Thursday in which an American-owned supertanker, the Sungari, was struck by an Iranian missile while flying the Liberian flag of convenience. As Pentagon spokesman Fred Hoffman said after the first incident: “The operative condition is ‘flying U.S. flag’ “--a condition met only by Friday’s attack.

State Department spokeswoman Phyllis Oakley said that Iran had been made “aware fully of our position concerning attacks on U.S.-flag vessels, specifically, and other hostile actions against U.S. targets generally.”

Talks With Kuwait

“We’re in discussions with the government of Kuwait and it would be very unwise to hint or suggest at anything we might do,” Reagan said during a photo session at the start of a meeting with American and Soviet exchange students.

U.S. officials stressed that, because the attack occurred in Kuwaiti and not international waters, Kuwait was seen by the Administration as the aggrieved party.

But the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States declared that his nation will not take any military action against Iran and said that any such response is up to the United States.

“That is a U.S. decision,” Ambassador Saud al Sabah said in an interview. “There is no doubt it is an aggression against Kuwaiti territorial integrity. But it is also an aggression against an American flag ship. It is a dual aggression against two countries.”

He said that Kuwait is coordinating a response with the United States but that it is limiting its initiatives to diplomatic channels.

Diplomatic Explorations

“We are exploring diplomacy through the (U.N.) Security Council, through the Arab League,” the envoy said, declining to say whether U.S. officials have asked Kuwait to launch independent military action or to participate in a U.S. strike.

A senior State Department official told a congressman that the United States had made no formal request of Kuwait.

The tiny oil-rich Arab state at the northern end of the Persian Gulf maintains an air force capable of destroying the Iranian battery of Chinese-made Silkworm anti-ship missiles, several independent and intelligence sources said.

According to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Kuwaiti air force flies two squadrons of American-made A-4 Skyhawk ground attack planes--a total of 34 light bombers--and a squadron of French-made Mirage fighters, 32 interceptor planes also capable of ground attack. It also has a fleet of 23 French-made Gazelle helicopter gunships. All of these aircraft have the range to reach the Silkworms and are armed with bombs and electronic jammers.

Shultz’s Statement

Secretary of State George P. Shultz, who is in the Middle East where he is likely to be asked about U.S. support for the gulf states, pointed out that the tanker was not under U.S. Navy escort at the time of the attack--possibly implying that the United States will not make good on its frequently stated vow to retaliate against attacks on U.S.-registered ships or possibly leaving room to maneuver by avoiding specific comments until officials set a course of action.

“It’s important to recognize that the ship was in Kuwait,” Shultz said upon arriving in Israel after a flight from Washington.

But Shultz’s remarks were criticized by one senior Administration official, who said that they were “out of step with the prevailing view in the Administration.”

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater, reading a White House statement that was also presented at the State Department, said, “Iran has committed an outrageous act of aggression against a non-belligerent country, Kuwait, and a U.S.-flagged vessel operating commercially and peacefully in the Persian Gulf.”

Battery at Faw

The U.S.-registered tanker, its cargo holds empty, was attacked Friday while it approached a refueling pier at the Al Ahmadi oil terminal. The Sea Isle City and the tanker hit on Thursday were both believed to have been struck by the Silkworm missiles launched from a recently installed battery at Faw, just inside the weapon’s 50-mile range. Faw is situated on Iranian-held Iraqi territory at the northern end of the gulf.

The 11 Kuwaiti vessels flying the U.S. flag are being protected by the U.S. Navy during trips up and down the Persian Gulf and through the narrow Strait of Hormuz. The escorting U.S. warships--sought by Kuwait to protect its tankers and their cargo of oil and natural gas from attacks in the Iran-Iraq War--were on their way south through the gulf at the time of the attack but were not involved in the incident.

The Administration has said that it is providing the protection to underscore American commitment to keeping open international waterways in the gulf, which are vital shipping lanes used to carry oil from the region.

Long, Anxious Day

For Reagan, his being awakened by Carlucci started a long and anxious day that included a series of meetings and updates with senior national security officials on the developments in the gulf--wedged between the usual daily presidential ceremonies and the discovery that his wife, Nancy, faces surgery for possible breast cancer.

At 6 p.m., the President escorted the First Lady to Bethesda Naval Hospital, where she is scheduled to undergo possible removal of her left breast today if a lesion there is found to be malignant. Although he will be with his wife, Nancy, throughout the day, he will continue to receive continual reports monitoring the tense gulf situation.

Adding to the already burdensome news of the day was continued sniping from Capitol Hill.

Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said: “Among the many flaws in the original reflagging decision is that we are sending U.S.-flagged ships, skippered by U.S. captains, into an area where they are going to be far more vulnerable than anywhere else in the Persian Gulf, and we’re not going to be there to help them. It’s an absurd flaw.”

Contributing to this report were Times staff writers John M. Broder, Melissa Healy, Don Shannon and Lee May in Washington, Norman Kempster in Jerusalem and John Balzar in Palo Alto.