From the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut to the mine blast that ripped the hull of the U.S.-reflagged tanker Bridgeton in the Persian Gulf last July, the U.S. has been humiliated by acts of violence that were almost certainly plotted by Iran. But persuasive proof remained frustratingly elusive. Ronald Reagan's threats of retaliation against any terrorists found with American blood on their hands carried a hollow ring on the all-too- frequent occasions when no evidence could be produced. But last week a carefully coordinated military operation in the gulf swiftly altered the image of U.S. helplessness. A well-laid trap caught Iran red-handed.
The incriminating evidence of Iran's lawlessness consisted of nine deadly mines whose horns bristled from the deck of the crippled vessel Iran Ajr. The Iranian navy landing craft was seized off Bahrain after a surprise attack by two U.S. helicopters left five Iranian sailors dead and 26 others captive. The black weapons, mounted on wheels, pointed silent but damning accusations at the regime of Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini.
U.S. Army crews in the high-tech helicopters had used infrared vision- enhancing gear to watch the Iranians rolling their explosive cargo into the sea. Under questioning, some of the sailors admitted what they were doing and even told where they had dropped the lethal charges. U.S. Navy SEALs (sea, air and land commandos) who boarded the vessel found charts detailing the mine- laying scheme. This helped the Navy locate and disarm seven other mines that the Iran Ajr had dropped into the sea-lanes.
The evidence contradicted the claim made in the United Nations the next day by Iranian President Ali Khamenei that the landing craft was a "merchant ship" and that the mine-laying charge was a "pack of lies." After the Iranian press agency claimed that the Iran Ajr was carrying food supplies to the port of Bushire, U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger scoffed, "These things certainly weren't vegetables and fruits."
The Iranians brazenly charged that the U.S. had murdered innocent sailors aboard the Iran Ajr. Yet on that very day a mine presumed to be theirs took ) the lives of four apparent innocents on a Panamanian-register ed research vessel that sank so fast there was no time to radio a distress call.
Iran's newly aggressive naval forces last week also attacked a British- flagged tanker, Gentle Breeze, setting it afire and killing one seaman. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher called the assault "absolutely outrageous." In the wake of the attack, Britain finally ordered the closing of Iran's Arms Procurement Office in London, which has been operating openly on the international weapons market throughout the country's seven-year war with Iraq.
The violence left the Ayatullah's government further isolated in world opinion. At the U.N., sentiment grew for a Security Council move to embargo arms shipments to Iran. Speaking to the U.N. General Assembly shortly before the Iran Ajr was seized, President Reagan declared that the council "has no choice" but to take action if Iran refused to accept a cease-fire in the gulf war. Yet the U.S. was having trouble persuading the Soviets to endorse the embargo; a Soviet veto could kill the proposal.