Word: kuwaiti
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...arms suppliers, while Beijing has denied the allegation. Last week Administration officials said they have evidence that new Chinese arms shipments, including sophisticated C-801 antiship missiles, have arrived in Tehran since early October. More than 100 new Silkworm missiles, the type that were used in recent attacks on Kuwaiti shipping, are also said to be destined for Iran as part of two arms deals, one for $1.3 billion in 1983 and another for $600 million early last year...
...characterized, in typical Middle East fashion, by attacks and counterattacks, retaliation and revenge. The U.S. was responding to Iranian Silkworm missile strikes on the oil tankers Sungari and Sea Isle City two weeks ago. The Sungari is U.S.-owned, and the Sea Isle City is one of eleven Kuwaiti tankers now flying the American flag. President Reagan called the 85-minute blitz of the oil platforms a "prudent yet restrained response" to Iranian aggression. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger told a press briefing after the Navy action, "We consider the matter closed...
...Kuwaiti defense forces on Failaka Island, 15 miles northeast of Kuwait City, watched the Silkworm blast off from Fao and head toward the oil dock. No effort was made to shoot the missile down, as had been done with the Silkworm that hit the Sea Isle City. Late in the week, however, Kuwaiti officials announced that they were setting up U.S.-made Hawk missile batteries on Failaka, where they will be close enough to Fao to interdict the Silkworms. The Kuwaitis have had the Viet Nam-era missiles since...
...retaliation and the Iranian counterstrike abruptly changed the profile of the gulf confrontation. Suddenly it looked less like a protective operation, in which U.S. warships quietly go about keeping Kuwaiti oil tankers out of harm's way, and more like a direct face-off between Iran and the U.S. -- a situation that, given the state of high dudgeon on both sides, could easily slide out of control. Secretary Weinberger, having made his point militarily, tried to turn down the rhetoric. "We do not seek any further confrontation with Iran," he said, "but we will be fully prepared to meet...
...sound and fury, the attack on Rostam was mostly symbolic. Neither side suffered any casualties, and loss of the platforms will not have much effect on the Iranians' ability to interfere with gulf ship traffic. U.S. hard-liners and Kuwaiti officials were dismayed, in fact, that the blow had been so soft. Some analysts saw no alternative in the long run to taking out the Silkworms, whatever the dangers and logistical difficulties. "You either have to destroy the missile sites or give up the notion of protecting the ships," said Edward Luttwak, a Washington-based military analyst...