Word: khomeini
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...there was no certain way to determine just which country or group is responsible for what appeared to be an elaborate act of terrorism and harassment. In the beginning, Egypt, which operates the Suez Canal, had two prime suspects, Iran and Libya. The Iranian government of the Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini was known to be angry and frustrated over its inability to stop its enemy Iraq from attacking tankers using Iranian oil facilities in the Persian Gulf. The Iranians were also upset about Iraq's intention to export more of its own oil via planned pipelines through Jordan and Saudi...
...extraordinary performance, even by the standards of the Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini. Late last week the Iranian leader issued a statement denouncing his own state radio for applauding the unidentified terrorists who had planted mines in the Red Sea. Radio Tehran had lavishly praised that action, declaring: "All the arrogant powers are helpless, unable to save the dozens of ships facing destruction in the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea every day . . . Now Washington, Paris and London will not be able to find a secure place to stand in pursuing their scornful goals...
...Khomeini was not having any of it. He denounced the Red Sea mining, for which the shadowy Islamic Jihad organization had claimed responsibility, and he seized the opportunity to deny that his government had been involved in any recent airplane hijackings. Declared Khomeini: "How could we support something that is against world feelings, against Islam and against reason?" He added ominously that "serious measures should be taken in order to stop unsound statements on the national radio that defame Iran...
...Khomeini's comments added fuel to speculation about conflict within the Iranian leadership over the country's costly war with Iraq, which took a more serious turn last week when Iraq claimed that it had attacked and destroyed several Iranian jets and warships in the northern reaches of the Persian Gulf. But Khomeini's remarks did nothing to resolve the mystery of the Red Sea mines. By last week at least 15 ships had experienced some sort of explosion as they plied the waters of the Red Sea on their way to or from the Suez Canal...
...mine and examine it for clues to its origin. While the Egyptians and their allies were preoccupied with the mystery of the Red Sea mines, repercussions from the gulf war were being felt throughout the region. In the third hijacking involving Iranians since June, two young opponents of the Khomeini regime commandeered an Iran Air jetliner and ordered it flown to Cairo and Rome, where they gave themselves up. In the gulf, after a respite of about four weeks, the Iraqis resumed the tanker war by hitting a Greek ship with an Exocet missile. As in the case...