ABSTRACT
The ceremony which heralded the eventual defeat of Iran took place not in the Gulf, but out on the oily waters of the Arabian Sea, twenty miles off the port of Khor Fakhan. There, on Tuesday, 21 July 1987, a few Americans, Kuwaitis, Filipinos and other assorted seamen watched as the Stars and Stripes were hoisted aboard the tankers al-Rekkah and Gas-al-Minagish, which immediately became the Bridgeton and the Gas Prince respectively. This was the turning point which signalled that Iran would not be allowed to win, that America and the Soviet Union had decided to act together, and that the seven-year-old policy of avoiding involvement in the Gulf was finally being abandoned. The build-up to this low-key moment of decision had been a slow one, with America and Kuwait, the Soviet Union and the United Nations all engaged in a stately minuet of intentions as each party made sure the other knew what was happening, and was prepared to go along with it, to give support, or at least not to throw a spanner in the works.
