• Source:JND

The United States of America finds itself as crossroads, looking to order the naval ships to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a role which it played four decades back during the Tanker War.

The Strait of Hormuz has been closed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) since the joint strikes by the US and Israel started on February 28, with limited access to some countries.

US President Donald Trump had called upon countries to aid in ensuring safe passage. After a delay and caution, 22 nations have come forward to contribute to the Hormuz cause.

What's the Tanker War of the 1980s?

The so-called Tanker war started during 1980 when Saddam Hussein, as a secular leader of Iraq, was wary of the theocratic revolutionary regime of Ruhollah Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, which gained power after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

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Hussein launched an invasion of Iran, which escalated into the Iraq-Iran War. By 1984, the protracted war entered the phase of attrition, and Hussein decided to target Iran's economy, including oil tankers.

Baghdad incorporated missile-armed jets and started hitting Iranian oil infrastructure on Kharg Island (the same place bombed by the US military installations in the ongoing war).

Tehran attacked uninvolved merchant ships transporting supplies and arms to Iraq in response. Many of these vessels were transporting via Kuwait at the northern end of the Persian Gulf.

In November 1986, two years into the so-called tanker war, Kuwait finally sought international help.

The first helping hand was extended by the Soviet Union. As Moscow was engaged in the Cold War, the rival United States didn't want to lose influence and lent aid.

Washington devised a plan to let the Kuwaiti flag use the American flag, making them eligible for US Navy protection under federal law.

By mid 1987, US naval and coast guard ships reached the Gulf, but on May 17, the guided-missile frigate USS Stark, on patrol, was struck by an Iraqi warplane in the central Persian Gulf, just outside a war exclusion zone.

The Iraqi jet hit the frigate after it mistook it for an Iranian. 29 of the crew were killed by two Exocet anti-ship missiles. Damaged, Stark managed to make it up to Bahrain.

Escort operation ended with embarrassment for US navy

The escort operation, dubbed Op Ernest Will, started in late July 1987. On July 22, two reflagged tankers bound for Kuwait departed the UAE. It was being escorted by the protection of five US ships, a destroyer, two frigates and two Coast Guard cutters.

As Iran had gathered intelligence, it laid landmines across key channels where Bridgeton, a massive oil tanker, was to transit.

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Two days later, Bridgeton hit an Iranian moored contact mine, but absorbed it. The resulting hole was big but failed to impose a devastating impact.

As a result, US naval escorts had to move behind it to avoid mines, resulting in taking escort from Bridgeton instead.

The incident was a huge embarrassment for the US Navy, after which Pantagon suspended the escort operation until it could get more minesweeping assets.

The US is once again facing a similar challenge as Iran is laying mines across key shipment lanes in the Strait of Hormuz.


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