Iranian Gunboats Attack Two Ships in Persian Gulf

Iranian gunboats raided two ships in the Persian Gulf on Friday and said its troops were “on full alert” and poised to attack the entire Iraqi border.

Iraq reported its warplanes attacked two other tankers, but the report could not be independently confirmed.

The Iranian raids on the 13,524-ton Norwegian-flag Igloo Espoo and the Liberian tanker Atlantic Charisma were the fourth and fifth of the week in the so-called “tanker war,” an outgrowth of the seven-year-old Iran-Iraq conflict.

Troops Massed on Border

The Speaker of Iran’s Parliament, Hashemi Rafsanjani, said that Iran has 500,000 troops massed “on full alert” from points at the northern edge of Iraq to the southernmost tip of Iraqi territory on the border with Iran.

During his prayer sermon at Tehran University, which was broadcast by Tehran radio and monitored by news agencies in Cyprus, the Speaker warned gulf Arab leaders and supporters of Iraq to “move toward justice before it is too late.”

“If tomorrow you hear the music of war on Iranian radio and television, you should know that regrets will serve no purpose,” Rafsanjani said.

Rafsanjani is the personal representative of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s supreme leader, on the Supreme Defense Council, the body that decides policy in the war.

Mubarak in Iraq

Meanwhile, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak arrived unexpectedly in Baghdad, Iraq, on Friday and discussed the war and other Middle East issues with President Saddam Hussein, said Egyptian Embassy officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

He flew in from Saudi Arabia and was to spend the night in Baghdad and fly to Amman, Jordan, today.

Iranian warships raided the Atlantic Charisma off the southern port of Dubai on Friday night, the London-based Lloyd’s Shipping Intelligence Unit reported. Shipping executives in the gulf, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the 23,127-ton Liberian-registered tanker, owned by Island Navigation Corp. of Hong Kong, later radioed that it sustained little damage.

2 Crewmen Injured

At midday an Iranian speedboat attacked the Igloo Espoo with “machine guns and missiles,” slightly injuring two of the 21 crewmen and igniting a fire in the deckhouse, said Olav Olufsen, technical director for Havtor Management of Oslo, Norway, the ship’s operator.

An Omani patrol boat took off the two injured crewmen for treatment in the sultanate. They were returned to the gas carrier after treatment.

Maritime salvage executives said the attack took place at the bend of the Strait of Hormuz, the mouth of the gulf. They said more than one speedboat might have been involved.

Headed for S. Korea

The tanker, jointly owned by the Norwegian Kvaerner Group and Neste of Finland, was headed for South Korea with a crew of seven Norwegians and 14 Filipinos and a full load of Saudi Arabian petroleum products, Olufsen said.

The official Iraqi News Agency reported Friday that Iraqi warplanes raiding near the Iranian coast “scored accurate and effective hits” on two “large naval targets,” usually a reference to oil tankers.

The report, monitored in Cyprus, said one ship was struck Thursday night and the other Friday morning. There was no immediate Iranian reaction to the Iraqi claim and the report could not be independently confirmed.