The World - News from Jan. 31, 1988

American and French warships rescued a Yugoslav freighter that was being “bullied” by an Iranian frigate as it steamed in international waters off Dubai, reports out of Bahrain said. The Gulf Daily News said the American frigate Gallery and two French warships went to the rescue of the 13,950-ton Dvar as the Iranian frigate came within yards of it. In the face of the “concerted effort by allied warships, the Iranian vessel left the Yugoslav ship alone,” a Persian Gulf shipping executive said. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, upping the ante in a bid to force an end to the 7-year-old Persian Gulf War, turned back “several” truckloads of Iranian farm produce to their point of transit in Dubai. “The Saudis are inching toward a full embargo against Iran as part of wider efforts to force the Iranians to stop the gulf war,” one diplomat said.