Reagan Calls Strike ‘Prudent Yet Restrained’

President Reagan, calling the Navy attack on an Iranian offshore oil platform “a prudent yet restrained response” to the missile strike on a U.S.-flagged tanker last week, warned the Tehran regime Monday that the United States will not tolerate “unprovoked attacks” in the Persian Gulf.

“The United States has no desire for a military confrontation with Iran, but the government of Iran should be under no illusion about our determination and ability to protect our ships and our interests,” Reagan said, describing the intense barrage from four U.S. destroyers as “a lawful exercise of the right of self-defense.”

Administration officials said the President had ruled out nearly a dozen options presented to him, choosing one that would minimize the risk to military personnel and Iranian civilians while sending a forceful signal of protest to Tehran.

“Our purpose was to demonstrate capability,” a senior Administration official said of the mission, which demolished the platform in an 85-minute show of firepower that consumed 1,000 rounds of ammunition. The platform, 75 miles from Iran’s coast, is no longer pumping oil and was used most recently as a staging point for Iranian military raids in the gulf.

Reagan, upon leaving the White House to visit the First Lady at Bethesda Naval Hospital on Monday evening, was asked if the United States and Iran were at war.

“No, we’re not going to have a war with Iran. They’re not that stupid,” he replied.

The attack ended three days of speculation about whether and how the United States would respond to the Silkworm missile attack Friday on the U.S.-registered tanker, Sea Isle City, which injured its American captain and 17 crewmen. Many had believed that the White House would order a larger-scale assault, such as a strike on the site where Iran bases its Silkworms.

Reagan reached the decision to target the platform in the midst of one of the most difficult periods in his presidency--a time when the stock market was suffering record declines, Congress was rebelling on a wide range of issues, and his wife was undergoing surgery for breast cancer. And the decision to attack, while limited, underscored Reagan’s determination to keep a firm grip on the course of the nation in the waning months of his Administration.

“This was something we felt we had to undertake,” Secretary of State George P. Shultz declared in Cairo, where he had just met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as part of a diplomatic tour of Middle Eastern nations.

Democrats, as well as Republicans in Congress, generally praised Reagan for ordering the retaliation despite growing fears that it brought the United States a step closer to a war with Iran. But a number of analysts--even some within the Administration--were skeptical that the mission, in the long run, would accomplish much beyond the destruction of its target.

Vice President George Bush, at the White House to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz, questioned whether the strike would stem the attacks launched by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s regime. “Let’s hope that Khomeini, irrational though he may be on some things, will get the message,” Bush said. But he added, “I wouldn’t count on it totally.”

Reagan, defending his decision, said the platform “has been used to assist in a number of Iranian attacks against non-belligerent shipping.”

He added: “Iran’s unprovoked attacks upon U.S. and other non-belligerent shipping, and particularly deliberate laying of mines and firing of Silkworm missiles which have hit U.S. flag vessels, have come in spite of numerous messages from the government of the United States . . . warning of the consequences.”

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater maintained that the Administration did not circumvent requirements of the 1973 War Powers Resolution in taking its action because Reagan had consulted with congressional leaders, who expressed support of the decision, at a White Houes meeting on the eve of the attack.

Under the War Powers Resolution, a President must report to Congress within 48 hours after U.S. servicemen face “imminent hostilities” and then must withdraw the troops within 90 days unless Congress votes otherwise. The Administration contends that the resolution is unconstitutional and would tie the President’s hands in crucial areas of national security.

However, the White House contends that it adheres to the spirit of the resolution by conferring with congressional leaders before taking military action. “We are obeying the law,” Fitzwater said. “We have discussed this with the Congress. We want to consult with them and make sure that they understand every detail of this operation.”

Meeting with Reagan at 8 p.m. Sunday to discuss Monday’s attack were Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.), House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.), House Majority Leader Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) and House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.).

One Pentagon official, noting that U.S. forces notified the Iranians 20 minutes before the strike, said that the warning reduced the likelihood of an exchange of fire and that the resolution language specifying “imminent hostilities” was not applicable.

Fitzwater, saying that the operation was conducted “swiftly and effectively,” stressed that “we have made every effort to avoid casualties.” He added: “We have struck a military target that has significant ramifications for our presence in the gulf.”

Reagan’s consideration of the retaliation began Friday morning with a meeting of the National Security Planning Group, made up of his most senior foreign policy and national security advisers.

The President arrived at his decision after a subsequent session in the family quarters on the second floor of the White House with Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, Under Secretary of State Michael H. Armacost, White House Chief of Staff Howard H. Baker Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. William J. Crowe Jr., National Security Adviser Frank C. Carlucci and his deputy, Lt. Gen. Colin Powell.

According to a senior White House official, the discarded options that the Pentagon presented to Reagan included attacks on Iranian land-based missile sites, specific Iranian vessels in the gulf, Iranian military bases and offshore islands.

An attack on the Silkworm missile site at Faw was rejected because the missiles could have been moved by the time the mission was begun, the official said. In addition, this course would have required a lengthy flight up the entire reach of the gulf and aerial refueling of carrier-launched aircraft.

The platform made a suitable target, Fitzwater said, because it used as a station for Iranian forces from which mine-laying activities were coordinated and small boat attacks were launched. It also served as a base for radar surveillance of U.S. forces in the gulf.

“It is our judgment that this is indeed a significant military target,” he said.