From MIM Notes Issue #33   01/12/88 


History--a review of hostilities
   The bombing of the Iranian oil platform was not an 
isolated military act on the United States' part. On October 
8th, US helicopters attacked and sank between one and three 
Iranian gunboats in the Persian Gulf. The two sides dispute 
who fired first. (Los Angeles Times, 10/10/87, p. 8)
   The last issue of MIM Notes neglected to mention an 
important conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran that the 
imperialists are trying to inflame--the Arab vs. Persian 
conflict.
   Friday, July 31st, at least 402 people died in Mecca when 
Saudi Arabian police fired on Iranian demonstrators. Mecca is 
an Islamic holy city in Saudi Arabia. At least 275 of the 
dead were Iranians. (The Plain Dealer, 8/4/87, p. 2a)
   After the riot, Iran called for the overthrow of the Saudi 
government for the first time. (Los Angeles Times, 8/3/87, p. 
1)
   There is also more information in on the role Soviet 
economic and military competition had in driving the U.S. 
into Gulf intervention. In April, Kuwait made an agreement 
with the Soviet Union "to lease three small tankers from the 
Soviet Union, which will provide a naval escort to and from 
Kuwaiti ports." (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, p. 5a)
   Indeed, the US attempt to have all the states of the 
Middle East as its dependents figures into the Kuwaiti 
request for US military escort in the Persian Gulf. Having 
heard that the United States is supplying Iran in its war 
with Iraq, Kuwait decided to "test" the US commitment to 
protecting the "moderate gulf states" from "Iranian 
aggression" according to a Kuwaiti official. (Ibid.)
   In reality, as of October 16, 1987 Iraq had attacked 258 
commercial ships, while Iran had attacked 142. (The 
Indianapolis Star, 10/17/87, p. a3)
   Iranian military actions are partly response to US 
provocations
   In the past, Iran has indicated that its actions in the 
Persian Gulf are at least partly responses to the US military 
force there. "As long as there are foreign forces in the 
gulf, it is quite natural to use such means to block 
approaches," said Iran's Kamal Kharazi of the Supreme Defense 
Council.
   Iran, however, has denied responsibility for mines that 
have caused the destruction of various tankers in the Gulf. 
Some evidence for this is that Iranian oil has spilled as a 
result of the mine attacks.
   Iran claims that both the United States and Iraq are also 
using mines in the Persian Gulf. Even if Iran is the only 
country putting in the mines, it is not in the Iranians' 
interests to blow up their own oil, unless there is a larger 
threat such as the United States in the Gulf.
   Iran also claims not to want to block free navigation in 
the Gulf, but it has said that the US "is trying to find 
justification for its presence" in the Gulf. (Los Angeles 
Times, 8/21/87)