It was in the middle of the conflict between Iran and Iraq, which also saw both nations initiate attacks on tankers to strangle one another's economy. Unfortunately, the Persian Gulf was the site of the world's most critical route for oil transport, and the war between the Iraqis and the Iranians drew in the interest of those who sought to safeguard the flow of oil that their economies depended on. The Iranians fought back ferociously against the Iraqi invasion, with Saddam Hussein being supported by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, both of them fearing a decisive Iranian victory and the implications of such an outcome on their own lands.
Meanwhile, the United States wanted to hurt the Iranians in retaliation for their actions at the US Embassy in Tehran, which naturally made supporting the Iraqis an attractive choice. This fed into the Iranian paranoia, in that the US and Iraq were conspiring to overthrow the new Islamic Republic and interfere in their own domestic affairs like the British and the Soviets did in 1941. And it also provided a much-needed boost to the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy, as a large portion of their government’s standing depended on staunch anti-Americanism rooted from the 1953 coup and the US “sheltering” the late shah. The main policy of the US was to safeguard the security of the Persian Gulf from the spillover of the Iran-Iraq War, which unfortunately caught many vessels flying neutral flags in the crossfire.
The beginning of the so-called Tanker War began when the Iraqis began attacking Iranian shipping. Their goal was to provoke the Iranians to retaliate with extreme measures, such as closing the Strait of Hormuz to all maritime traffic, thereby bringing American intervention, and the United States had threatened several times to intervene if the Strait of Hormuz was closed. The Iranians knew that they stood no chance in a conventional fight with the US military, so they limited their retaliatory attacks to Iraqi shipping, leaving the strait open to general passage. However, this would change once the Iraqis repeatedly bombed Iran's main oil export facility on Kharg Island, causing increasingly heavy damage. As a first response to these attacks, Iran attacked a Kuwaiti tanker carrying Iraqi oil near Bahrain on May 13, 1984, as well as a Saudi tanker in Saudi waters three days. Because Iraq had become landlocked during the course of the war, they had to rely on their Arab allies, primarily Kuwait, to transport their oil. Iran attacked tankers carrying Iraqi oil from Kuwait, later attacking tankers from any of Iraq’s supporters with coastline on the Persian Gulf. Attacks on ships of noncombatant nations in the Persian Gulf sharply increased thereafter, with both nations attacking oil tankers and merchant ships of neutral nations in an effort to deprive their opponent of trade.
The Saudis were angered at the Iranians attacking their shipping and were already allowing a covert US military presence in the country, with painful efforts to keep it that way to avoid inflaming a populace who did not welcome those who worked for the country seen as Israel’s protector and on the very soil containing both Mecca and Medina. The US also sold F-15 Eagles to the Saudis, which would prove to be a vital asset in their military and during the events of June 5, 1984.
On that day, two Iranian F-4 Phantoms from Bushehr Air Base intruded into Saudi airspace to prepare for an attack on oil tankers. The planes were tracked by a United States Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft, which directed two patrolling Saudi F-15 Eagles to intercept the Iranians. The Saudis shot down one Iranian F-4 Phantom, killing pilot Lieutenant Homayoun Hekmati and weapon systems officer Lieutenant Seyed Sirous Karimi while damaging the second F-4, which despite being damaged, was able to make an emergency landing at Kish Airport, but the aircraft could not be repaired and returned to service. This caused the Iranians to scramble 11 additional F-4s from Bushehr as well as two F-14s that were nearby hunting for Iraqi aircraft. In response, the Royal Saudi Air Force scrambled 11 additional F-15s.
What happened next has been called “al-Qadisiyyah in the air,” with the clash correctly being called the most serious aerial dogfight in the Middle East. It started with the two Iranian F-14s opening up with their AIM-54 Phoenixes, which greatly outranged the AIM-7s on the Saudi F-15s. Three F-15s were shot down in the first salvo, but the Saudis merely engaged their afterburners and sped towards the merge. The F-15 was superior to the F-4 in terms of maneuverability and speed, and it would emerge the victor in a dogfight. That was exactly what happened, as the Saudi pilots were able to avoid suffering more losses from more Phoenix launches through aggressive evasive maneuvering and come into range to launch their AIM-7 Sparrows. The Iranian pilots were well-trained, the result of their instruction from the US military prior to the Revolution, but training and skill were both not enough that day.
The Saudis suffered three more F-15s downed, while the Iranians lost nine of their F-4s. The F-14s had ran out of Phoenixes and thus withdrew from the fight, their pilots wanting to spare Iran’s best plane from danger. Meanwhile, the E-3 monitored the dogfight and this put the US Seventh Fleet, which provided the bulk of the US Navy’s presence in the Persian Gulf despite being based in Japan, on high alert. Both the USS Kitty Hawk and the USS Constellation received orders to sail to the Persian Gulf, with their F-14s, A-6s, and the new F-18s being scrambled, along with dozens of their destroyers and cruisers.
The Iranians wanted revenge for the loss of so many of their aircraft and pilots. Cooler heads in the Iranian military urged for caution, since they correctly feared the direct involvement of the US military. However, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, with help from Khomeini, accused them of being pro-American and the Ayatollah commanded for a retaliatory strike against the Saudis. What happened next was a major operation, with the Iranians arranging for forty F-4 Phantoms armed with ground attack ordnance escorted by six F-14s. Their target was the Saudi naval base at Jubail, and their objective was to cripple the Saudis along the Persian Gulf. Even the Saudis would have been overwhelmed by an attack of such a scale.
There was only one problem: timing. The Iranians naturally had to pull much-needed aircraft from fighting the Iraqis for this operation, especially during a shortage of spare parts and ordnance. And the US Navy’s F-14s and F-18s were on station to provide support for the Saudis, with the rules of engagement being to not fire on the Iranians unless fired upon. AWACS detected the large Iranian air formation speeding towards Jubail and the Saudis scrambled the F-15s. The Iranian mission commander flying in the lead F-14 wanted to abort the mission after detecting thirty F-15s coming to intercept them, but his superior back at base, under pressure from both the Ayatollah and the Revolutionary Guards, ordered him to stay on target.
Consequently, the Iranian attempt on Jubail was met with heavy resistance. The Saudi F-15s were able to speed towards the merge, despite losing six to Iranian-launched Phoenix missiles. The Saudis made quick work of the F-4s, shooting down fifteen and forcing the others to turn back. But the F-14s stayed to cover the Phantoms, resulting in an intense dogfight. The F-15s and the F-14s were evenly matched in dogfighting skills, but the Iranians were outnumbered and thus began to crack under the pressure. Three F-14s were shot down, with two F-15s in return, and the Iranians were forced to retreat.
The clash also resulted in a blunder for the Iranians. One of the F-14s detected two radar signatures and consequently fired two Phoenix missiles, believing it to be Saudi F-15s. However, it was in fact a pair of US Navy F-18s, with both planes shot down and the pilot, Lieutenant Commander Michael Henderson, killed while the other pilot, Lieutenant James Johnson, was able to eject and land near the Saudi coast. The only reason why the Navy’s F-14s didn’t fire back was because the dogfight was occurring and they were given strict instructions to not cause casualties among the Saudis.
The Pentagon was outraged at what they saw as Iranian aggression, and President Ronald Reagan addressed the nation to express in his words “prayers for the family of Lieutenant Commander Henderson and anger against the fanatical regime of Iran.” In response, Reagan authorized the Navy to conduct a bombing strike against Bushehr and Bandar Abbas, and then had the SEALs and the Marines to seize Abu Musa. It was taken with little resistance. In response, the Iranians launched a battery of Silkworm missiles, purchased from China, against them at Abu Musa, causing the death of one hundred Marines and ten SEALs.
Meanwhile, the United States wanted to hurt the Iranians in retaliation for their actions at the US Embassy in Tehran, which naturally made supporting the Iraqis an attractive choice. This fed into the Iranian paranoia, in that the US and Iraq were conspiring to overthrow the new Islamic Republic and interfere in their own domestic affairs like the British and the Soviets did in 1941. And it also provided a much-needed boost to the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy, as a large portion of their government’s standing depended on staunch anti-Americanism rooted from the 1953 coup and the US “sheltering” the late shah. The main policy of the US was to safeguard the security of the Persian Gulf from the spillover of the Iran-Iraq War, which unfortunately caught many vessels flying neutral flags in the crossfire.
The beginning of the so-called Tanker War began when the Iraqis began attacking Iranian shipping. Their goal was to provoke the Iranians to retaliate with extreme measures, such as closing the Strait of Hormuz to all maritime traffic, thereby bringing American intervention, and the United States had threatened several times to intervene if the Strait of Hormuz was closed. The Iranians knew that they stood no chance in a conventional fight with the US military, so they limited their retaliatory attacks to Iraqi shipping, leaving the strait open to general passage. However, this would change once the Iraqis repeatedly bombed Iran's main oil export facility on Kharg Island, causing increasingly heavy damage. As a first response to these attacks, Iran attacked a Kuwaiti tanker carrying Iraqi oil near Bahrain on May 13, 1984, as well as a Saudi tanker in Saudi waters three days. Because Iraq had become landlocked during the course of the war, they had to rely on their Arab allies, primarily Kuwait, to transport their oil. Iran attacked tankers carrying Iraqi oil from Kuwait, later attacking tankers from any of Iraq’s supporters with coastline on the Persian Gulf. Attacks on ships of noncombatant nations in the Persian Gulf sharply increased thereafter, with both nations attacking oil tankers and merchant ships of neutral nations in an effort to deprive their opponent of trade.
The Saudis were angered at the Iranians attacking their shipping and were already allowing a covert US military presence in the country, with painful efforts to keep it that way to avoid inflaming a populace who did not welcome those who worked for the country seen as Israel’s protector and on the very soil containing both Mecca and Medina. The US also sold F-15 Eagles to the Saudis, which would prove to be a vital asset in their military and during the events of June 5, 1984.
On that day, two Iranian F-4 Phantoms from Bushehr Air Base intruded into Saudi airspace to prepare for an attack on oil tankers. The planes were tracked by a United States Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft, which directed two patrolling Saudi F-15 Eagles to intercept the Iranians. The Saudis shot down one Iranian F-4 Phantom, killing pilot Lieutenant Homayoun Hekmati and weapon systems officer Lieutenant Seyed Sirous Karimi while damaging the second F-4, which despite being damaged, was able to make an emergency landing at Kish Airport, but the aircraft could not be repaired and returned to service. This caused the Iranians to scramble 11 additional F-4s from Bushehr as well as two F-14s that were nearby hunting for Iraqi aircraft. In response, the Royal Saudi Air Force scrambled 11 additional F-15s.
What happened next has been called “al-Qadisiyyah in the air,” with the clash correctly being called the most serious aerial dogfight in the Middle East. It started with the two Iranian F-14s opening up with their AIM-54 Phoenixes, which greatly outranged the AIM-7s on the Saudi F-15s. Three F-15s were shot down in the first salvo, but the Saudis merely engaged their afterburners and sped towards the merge. The F-15 was superior to the F-4 in terms of maneuverability and speed, and it would emerge the victor in a dogfight. That was exactly what happened, as the Saudi pilots were able to avoid suffering more losses from more Phoenix launches through aggressive evasive maneuvering and come into range to launch their AIM-7 Sparrows. The Iranian pilots were well-trained, the result of their instruction from the US military prior to the Revolution, but training and skill were both not enough that day.
The Saudis suffered three more F-15s downed, while the Iranians lost nine of their F-4s. The F-14s had ran out of Phoenixes and thus withdrew from the fight, their pilots wanting to spare Iran’s best plane from danger. Meanwhile, the E-3 monitored the dogfight and this put the US Seventh Fleet, which provided the bulk of the US Navy’s presence in the Persian Gulf despite being based in Japan, on high alert. Both the USS Kitty Hawk and the USS Constellation received orders to sail to the Persian Gulf, with their F-14s, A-6s, and the new F-18s being scrambled, along with dozens of their destroyers and cruisers.
The Iranians wanted revenge for the loss of so many of their aircraft and pilots. Cooler heads in the Iranian military urged for caution, since they correctly feared the direct involvement of the US military. However, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, with help from Khomeini, accused them of being pro-American and the Ayatollah commanded for a retaliatory strike against the Saudis. What happened next was a major operation, with the Iranians arranging for forty F-4 Phantoms armed with ground attack ordnance escorted by six F-14s. Their target was the Saudi naval base at Jubail, and their objective was to cripple the Saudis along the Persian Gulf. Even the Saudis would have been overwhelmed by an attack of such a scale.
There was only one problem: timing. The Iranians naturally had to pull much-needed aircraft from fighting the Iraqis for this operation, especially during a shortage of spare parts and ordnance. And the US Navy’s F-14s and F-18s were on station to provide support for the Saudis, with the rules of engagement being to not fire on the Iranians unless fired upon. AWACS detected the large Iranian air formation speeding towards Jubail and the Saudis scrambled the F-15s. The Iranian mission commander flying in the lead F-14 wanted to abort the mission after detecting thirty F-15s coming to intercept them, but his superior back at base, under pressure from both the Ayatollah and the Revolutionary Guards, ordered him to stay on target.
Consequently, the Iranian attempt on Jubail was met with heavy resistance. The Saudi F-15s were able to speed towards the merge, despite losing six to Iranian-launched Phoenix missiles. The Saudis made quick work of the F-4s, shooting down fifteen and forcing the others to turn back. But the F-14s stayed to cover the Phantoms, resulting in an intense dogfight. The F-15s and the F-14s were evenly matched in dogfighting skills, but the Iranians were outnumbered and thus began to crack under the pressure. Three F-14s were shot down, with two F-15s in return, and the Iranians were forced to retreat.
The clash also resulted in a blunder for the Iranians. One of the F-14s detected two radar signatures and consequently fired two Phoenix missiles, believing it to be Saudi F-15s. However, it was in fact a pair of US Navy F-18s, with both planes shot down and the pilot, Lieutenant Commander Michael Henderson, killed while the other pilot, Lieutenant James Johnson, was able to eject and land near the Saudi coast. The only reason why the Navy’s F-14s didn’t fire back was because the dogfight was occurring and they were given strict instructions to not cause casualties among the Saudis.
The Pentagon was outraged at what they saw as Iranian aggression, and President Ronald Reagan addressed the nation to express in his words “prayers for the family of Lieutenant Commander Henderson and anger against the fanatical regime of Iran.” In response, Reagan authorized the Navy to conduct a bombing strike against Bushehr and Bandar Abbas, and then had the SEALs and the Marines to seize Abu Musa. It was taken with little resistance. In response, the Iranians launched a battery of Silkworm missiles, purchased from China, against them at Abu Musa, causing the death of one hundred Marines and ten SEALs.
- This is the POD, in IOTL the Iranians were more aggressive and thus causing the dogfight of June 5, 1984 to go really hot
Last edited: