During the stalemated six-year war along their 730-mile border, Iran and Iraq have resorted to attacking tankers plying the waters of the Persian Gulf. Last week Iraqi pilots scored a strategic breakthrough when they struck Sirri Island, a key Iranian oil terminal that was thought to be beyond the reach of Iraq's fighter-bombers.
At noon Tuesday, six French-made F-1 Mirages streaked out of the west. They fired Exocet missiles and dropped laser-guided bombs on an estimated 15 tankers anchored off Sirri and on the terminal itself. Three ships were hit, ^ and one, the 233,788-ton Iranian supertanker Azarpad, was consumed by...