The Tanker War was a protracted series of armed skirmishes between

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

against

merchant vessels A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as industry ...

in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

and

Strait of Hormuz The Strait of Hormuz ( fa, تنگه هرمز ''Tangeh-ye Hormoz'' ar, مَضيق هُرمُز ''Maḍīq Hurmuz'') is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the ...

from 1984 to 1988. The conflict was a part of the larger

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...

Background

Prior to 1984, attacks against shipping had occurred, albeit on a much smaller scale. In December 1980, UN Secretary General appealed to Iran and Iraq to ensure the security of peaceful shipping in the Gulf. At that time, Iran assured other countries that it would keep the

open.

Overview

The Tanker War was initiated in 1984 by

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

supported Iraq against

, while the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

intervened in the conflict in 1986 to "protect" Kuwaiti tankers and subsequently engaged in a confrontation with Iran. Both sides had declared an "exclusion zone", meaning areas in which they had warned ships from entering. Iraq declared the area around Iran's

Kharg Island Kharg or Khark Island ( fa, جزیره خارک) is a continental island in the Persian Gulf belonging to Iran. The island is located off the coast of Iran and northwest of the Strait of Hormuz. Its total area is . Administered by the adjacen ...

to be an exclusion zone. Kharg Island hosted Iran's principal oil shipment port. Iraq gave precise definition, in coordinates, of this exclusion zone and gave advance notification to all countries. However, Iraq did not designate any safe passage routes in this zone. Iran declared all waters adjacent to its coast, up to 40 miles out, to be its exclusion zone. It instructed ships headed for non-Iranian ports to sail west of this line. While Iran also did not designate any safe passages in its exclusion zone, this wasn't necessary. Iran's exclusion zone allowed for ships to enter and exit the Gulf, and essentially only kept such foreign ships out of its own waters. Ironically, Iran's exclusion zone made it easier for Iraq to target Iranian ships. It allowed Iraq to assume that any ship in Iran's territorial waters must be going to (or coming from) an Iranian port.

Background

Overview

List of attacks

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

Notes

References

Footnotes

Sources

Further reading