الصراع الامريكي – السوفيتي في كسب الوصاية في الحرب الناقلات النفطية في منطقة الخليج العربي

Abstract

The oil tanker war continued throughout the Iraq- Iran war, during which both sides attacked the oil targets of the Gulf States. Iran proceeded t attack Iraqi oil targets and sink a number of Kuwaiti and Saudi oil tankers, in addition to tankers of other foreign nationalities in the waters of the Arabian GulfWith the aim of warning them and preventing them from helping and supporting Iraq, and for its part, Iraq escalated the tanker war  to prevent Iran from benefiting its oil revenues on the one hand and an attempt to internationalize the war to pressure Iran to agree to a ceasefire under international pressure  on the other hand.

After the escalation of attacks on oil tankers in the waters of the Arabian Gulf, Kuwait, being the most targeted country, submitted a request of protection for its oil tankers from the United States of America as a power with the influence and interests in the Gulf region, but Washington initially refused the Kuwaiti request, so Kuwait submitted the same request to the Soviet Union which in turn agreed to the Kuwaiti request. After Washington learned that Moscow had agreed to the protection request for Kuwaiti oil tankers, they agreed to register eleven Kuwaiti tankers under American names bearing the flag of the United States of America, and found in the matter an opportunity to increase its influence and military power in the region under the umbrella of protecting its interests and the interests of its allies in the region. Thus, the issue of protecting oil tankers and raising foreign flags on ships belonging to the state of Kuwait brought the gulf region into the vortex of the cold war between the United States of America and the Soviet Union.