Attack on Iran Ships May Have Killed 51

Iranian gunboats attacked two neutral tankers Monday in the Persian Gulf, and shipping authorities indicated that Iraqi warplanes may have killed 51 men Saturday in an attack on Iranian tankers--the highest such toll so far in four years of the so-called tanker war.

Also, Iraq’s attacks on Iranian cities were reported to be continuing, with another ground-to-ground missile fired against Tehran. The Iranians said eight people were killed when an Iraqi missile exploded during the night.

Reports from Oslo said that 51 men, including a Swedish officer, were apparently killed when Iraqi jets attacked two tankers Saturday at Iran’s Kharg Island oil terminal. Although both vessels are Iranian-owned, Norwegian firms are either part owners or are involved in operations.

Norwegian shipping officials said that dozens of Iranian workers at the loading terminal in the northern gulf were killed or injured in the attack.

The Norwegians said 25 crewmen were missing from the 253,837-ton tanker Sanandaj and 26 from the 316,739-ton Avaj. Only four crewmen were rescued. The nationalities of the crewmen were not known.

The casualty toll was the highest in an attack on non-naval ships in the gulf since last December, when 21 crewmen were killed in an Iraqi attack on the Norwegian-managed Susangird, which later caught fire and sank.

Last May, 37 American sailors were killed when an Iraqi missile hit the frigate Stark in what was described officially as a case of mistaken identity. Iraq apologized for the incident.

Both Ships Set Afire

In Monday’s raids, gunboats manned by Iranian Revolutionary Guards attacked a Japanese-run tanker and a Spanish refrigerator ship near the Strait of Hormuz, which links the gulf with the Arabian Sea. Both ships were set on fire by rocket-propelled grenades.

The ships were identified as the Liberian-flag Japanese tanker Fumi, which was carrying Saudi crude oil, and the refrigerator ship Iberian Reefer.

There was no immediate report of casualties on either vessel.

As recently as three months ago, attacks by Iran and Iraq on shipping in the Persian Gulf appeared to have tapered off, so much so that a number of Western naval vessels assigned to protection duties in the gulf were quietly withdrawn.

The United States had strengthened its naval forces in the region to furnish escorts for American-flag vessels in the gulf, including 11 Kuwaiti tankers that were re-registered in the United States.