The Gulf

The conflict in the Persian Gulf is sometimes called the tanker war, and last week's skirmishes showed why. In a nighttime raid, Iraqi warplanes bombed several Iranian tankers near Kharg Island. A day later an Iranian gunboat hurled nearly a score of rocket-propelled grenades at a U.S.-operated Liberian tanker off the Kuwaiti coast; no casualties were reported. The attacks followed a bout of muscle flexing between the U.S. and Iran. Soon after Iran tested a Chinese-made Silkworm missile at the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. Navy held its own drill, launching planes from a carrier in the Gulf of Oman.

A bit of sparring also occurred in Washington, where the House of Representatives voted to delay by 90 days the Reagan Administration's plan to register eleven Kuwaiti tankers under the U.S. flag and provide them with a naval escort. The measure, however, was largely symbolic, because even if the Senate had followed suit, a presidential veto would probably have ensued. The reflagged tankers are scheduled to begin operating in the Persian Gulf next week.