Shipping Persian Gulf

Four mines have been discovered in the northern Persian Gulf recently, and U.S. naval officers say shipping will be endangered if rough winter weather rips more mines from their moorings. U.S. Navy officers said Monday that three of the mines were spotted drifting on the surface after breaking loose from their seabed anchors. "As winter approaches, the waters in the northern gulf get a lot rougher, and that's when the anchored mines are more likely to break away.

Iran said on Friday that it will continue to inspect ships in the Persian Gulf despite the cease-fire in its war with Iraq. "The Islamic Republic of Iran will exercise the right, based on international regulations, to inspect ships in the period between the cease-fire and the establishment of comprehensive peace," Tehran Radio, monitored in Nicosia, quoted Navy commander Rear Adm. Mohammed Hussein Malekzadegan as saying.

The Pentagon, after suspending deployment of a guided-missile cruiser to the Persian Gulf last week, allowed four other warships to sail Tuesday as scheduled for routine rotations in the troubled waterway. The Navy identified the ships as the frigates Aubrey Fitch and Doyle from Mayport, Fla.; the frigate Taylor from Charleston, S.C., and the cruiser Josephus Daniels from Norfolk, Va.

Insurers on Tuesday slashed by up to 33% their rates for insuring cargoes in the Persian Gulf, following the announcement of a firm date for a cease-fire between Iran and Iraq. The cuts are the first since the possibility of a cease-fire between the two countries was announced three weeks ago. United Nations Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar on Monday announced that the truce would begin Aug. 20.

Iranian gunboats attacked a Norwegian tanker Thursday in the Persian Gulf, the first major attack on civilian shipping since Iran accepted a cease-fire call in the war with Iraq. The incident occurred just four days after an Iranian envoy had pledged that Iran would refrain from attacking neutral shipping while talks are taking place to arrange a cease-fire in the gulf war.