One man’s view of a changing landscape

Twenty years ago, I first landed in Dubai when I was sent on assignment by Agence France Presse to cover the “tanker war” which was raging out in the middle of the Gulf. In short, the Iranians were bent on punishing all of the Arab Gulf states for supporting their arch enemy Iraq. As a result, all ships that entered though the Straits of Hormuz were at risk of being attacked by Iranian speed boats using small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades The Iranian objective was to disrupt the flow of oil and other maritime activity in the region. To counter this threat, the US navy, along with its coalition partners, amassed a naval flotilla of warships to protect Kuwaiti registered oil tankers as they transited the Gulf to pick up and deliver the worlds’ most precious cargo. Unfortunately for most of the ships, the only ones that were