War in the Persian Gulf

COVER STORIES Seeking power and revenge, Iraq attacks Iran along a crucial oil artery

Suddenly the nightmare, the conflict that had only been discussed as a worst-case scenario, was at hand—war amid the oilfields and across the vital oil routes of the Persian Gulf. Day after day last week, Iraqi pilots flying Soviet-built MiGs headed eastward for bombing raids on military targets and oil facilities across the Iranian border, including the Tigris-Euphrates estuary known as Shatt al Arab. Caught by surprise at first, the Iranians responded with attacks of their own, sending American-made...