The Weapon of Oil and the Tanker War in the Persian Gulf (Part One)

Oil is Iran's most important source of income, constituting over 80 percent of the country's foreign currency. Therefore, after the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War, oil quickly became a weapon of war. Since more than 80 percent of Iran's oil was exported from Khark Island, this island became a key strategic target for the Iraqi Air Force, and this situation persisted until the end of the eight-year war. The intensification of Iraqi airstrikes on Khark forced the Islamic Republic to transfer its oil via tankers to a relatively safe location in the eastern Persian Gulf before exporting it from the island. The escalation of the tanker war in the Persian Gulf transformed the nature of this conflict from a regional confrontation to an international showdown, with extra-regional actors entering the arena to protect their strategic, political, and economic interests. On the 37th anniversary of the beginning of the Iran-Iraq War and Defense Week, this series of writings will examine the course of the tanker war; the objectives of using oil as a weapon and its effects on Iran's oil exports; Iran's strategies for transporting and exporting oil; and the role of extra-regional actors in the Persian Gulf. This section will explore the reciprocal attacks by Iran and Iraq on each other's oil facilities, the halting of two-thirds of Iraq's oil exports, the destruction of its offshore terminals, and the emergence of attacks against commercial ships. Few industries can be found that are as vulnerable at sea and on land as the oil industry. This reality became evident from the very first days of the Iran-Iraq War with both countries attacking each other's oil facilities, and as the war continued, damaging and attempting to destroy the oil industry became part of their military strategy. One day after Saddam Hussein's army attacked Iran, Iraq targeted the Abadan oil refinery, and in the following days, after repeated air bombardments and artillery fire, the refinery was completely incapacitated in less than a month. With the onset of the war against Iran, Saddam Hussein focused one of the main axes of his attack on the oil-rich province of Khuzestan. Iraqi forces targeted the cities of Khorramshahr, Abadan, and Dezful. Apart from the geographical importance of these key cities, Dezful served as a vital center for oil transportation, being the intersection of several oil pipelines connecting Khuzestan's oil fields to northern and southeastern Iran. Dezful, which was repeatedly attacked by Iraqi forces, also had several strategic significances. Aside from its military importance, it was the center for pumping products from the Abadan refinery to central and northern Iran. If the Iraqi army had achieved all its objectives in Khuzestan and captured the cities of Dezful and Ahvaz, the oil reserves in other Iranian cities would have been depleted within weeks, and it is likely that the resistance of Iranian forces would have collapsed. Conversely, Iran also targeted strategic objectives in Iraq and on Wednesday, September 24, 1980, attacked Basra, which housed one of Iraq's industrial project centers, including a petrochemical complex, a natural gas processing unit, and a refinery. Additionally, Iranian naval units, during an operation named 'Ashkan' in the early hours of November 1, 1980, bombarded the large oil terminals of Al-Bakr and Al-Amaya at the mouth of the Arvand River (Shatt al-Arab), through which three-quarters of Iraq's oil was exported. Each of these terminals had the capacity to accommodate super tankers (VLCCs) with a capacity of 320,000 cubic meters (2 million barrels) of oil. Five days after this operation, special teams of naval commandos blew up major sections of these two terminals, and ultimately on December 7, 1980, a forward naval command named 'Task Force 421' in Bushehr (commanding forces in the four naval regions and responsible for designing, supervising, and controlling naval operations) executed 'Operation Pearl' with air force support, rendering the mentioned terminals non-operational and inflicting heavy damage on the Iraqi Navy, to the extent that it was unable to play an effective role for the rest of the war. Following this operation, the maritime blockade of Iraq and the prohibition of ships' movement to Khawr Abdullah (the waterway leading to the Umm Qasr port in Iraq) was completed, although other Arab countries, especially Kuwait, diminished the effectiveness of this blockade by providing their ports for unloading goods from ships and transporting them overland to Iraq. Nevertheless, Iran's attacks on the Al-Bakr and Al-Amaya terminals and the Faw port terminal in the Arvand River halted Iraq's oil exports from the Persian Gulf and severely reduced the country's oil export capacity. In addition to naval operations, the Iranian air force bombed Iraqi oil facilities in the cities of Kirkuk, Mosul, Erbil, as well as petrochemical facilities near the cities of Basra and Zubair. In response, Iraq also targeted several Iranian oil and petrochemical facilities in the ports of Khomeini (formerly Shahpour), Mahshahr, and Khark Island. As a result of these reciprocal attacks, both Iran and Iraq utilized oil as a strategic tool from the very first days of the war, ultimately leading to the tanker war. The onset of attacks against commercial ships and Khark Island began with Saddam's attack on Iran, which prevented ships from navigating in the Arvand River, trapping nearly 70 ships in this waterway. Following the capture of Khorramshahr by Iraqi forces, the Islamic Republic initially changed the destination of commercial ships carrying goods for Iran to Bandar Abbas, and despite maximizing all facilities and capacities of this port, it was forced to also utilize two important ports in the northern Persian Gulf, namely Khomeini and Mahshahr ports. Moreover, the destruction of the Abadan oil refinery compelled the Islamic Republic to procure its oil production shortages from abroad. Overall, from the beginning of the Iran-Iraq War (September 22, 1980) until Bahman 1362 (February 1984), which marked the peak of maritime attacks and the beginning of the four-year tanker war, Iraq attacked 23 ships and Iran attacked 5 ships. Consequently, the movement of commercial ship convoys heading to the Khomeini and Mahshahr ports under the control of 'Task Force 421' began, escorted by naval units of the army and closely supported by the air force. However, shortly after the start of this operation, the Iraqi air force, having received Super Frelon helicopters armed with Exocet missiles from France, began attacking the commercial ship convoys in the extreme northwest of the Persian Gulf along the Khawr Mousa, the waterway leading to the aforementioned ports. Despite the necessary precautions taken by the navy to escort the commercial ship convoys, Iraq continued its air attacks to stop the movement of ships to Mahshahr and Khomeini ports. Although Iran conducted its first anti-ship attack on October 7, 1980, the first casualty of such attacks was the bulk carrier 'Louise-1' under the Panamanian flag, which sank on May 21, 1981, due to an Iraqi airstrike in Khawr Mousa. On Thursday, January 13, 1982, Iraq warned international shipping companies that it had targeted three commercial ships after leaving Khomeini port and advised them to refrain from navigating in the waters of the western Persian Gulf. The Iraqi air force continued its attacks against commercial ships heading to Iranian ports, and from May 1982, it also targeted Khark Island. For the first time on May 30, 1982, Iraqi aircraft attacked a Turkish-flagged oil tanker named 'Atlas-1' that was loading in Khark. By late August 1982, Iraq declared a no-fly zone with a radius of 35 miles from Khark Island, warning that it would attack ships navigating in this area. In September, naval clashes expanded to the eastern waters of the Persian Gulf, and Iraqi aircraft targeted an Iranian oil tanker named Shirvan that was heading from the secret island to Mahshahr port. In response, Iran sought to enhance its air defense in the region to ensure the security of tanker movements to Khark. Concurrently, while continuing the maritime blockade of Iraq, it inspected commercial ships in the Persian Gulf that were suspected of carrying weapons and equipment to Iraq via Kuwait. Despite this, Iraq continued its attacks against ships and tankers heading to Iranian ports. Overall, from the beginning of the Iran-Iraq War (September 22, 1980) until Bahman 1362 (February 1984), which marked the peak of maritime attacks and the beginning of the four-year tanker war, Iraq attacked 23 ships and Iran attacked 5 ships.