Family business source of Iranian weapon

Press, 6 August 1987, Page 20

Family business source of Iranian weapon

By

LARS FOYEN

NZPA-Reuter Stockholm

Far from the tensions of the Gulf War between Iran and Iraq, a family business in a Stockholm suburb has emerged as the unwitting source of a devastatingly effective new Iranian weapon. About 50 sleek aluminium boats custom-built by the shipbuilders, Boghammar Marin, for the Iranian coastguard service to chase smugglers have been requisitioned by revolutionary guards in Iran to make lightning raids, on tankers in the Gulf. Iran uses the boats, originally designed for the pleasure market, to make missile attacks on merchant vessels doing business with Kuwait, which supports Iraq in the seven-year-old Gulf war, shipping and intelligence sources say.

Their deadly effectiveness in raiding tankers has been highlighted by a recent, controversial decision by the United States to send warships to the Gulf to escort and protect the Kuwaiti merchant shipping harassed by the attacks.

The 50-knot cruisers, crewed by Iranian revolutionary guards with handheld missile systems, were first reported in military action on April 15 and have since been used in most Iranian attacks on Gulf shipping. Targets have included a Philippines freighter carrying sheep, a Japanese, a Norwegian, and,

ironically, a Swedishowned supertanker.

“They are very fast, very capable vessels, with a lot of military potential,” said Aaron Karp, director of arms trade research at the prestigious Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (S.I.P.R.L).

“A small crew can man a heavy machine gun, bazookas and hand-held anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles to attack ships,” he told Reuters.

“It may not be enough to sink a big freighter or a naval vessel but it can ruin someone’s day, which may be enough for Iran’s purposes,” he said. Boghammar Marin, in tum-of-the-century build-, ings in red brick and timber beside an idyllic marina, employs 15 people and has an annual turnover of up to $5 million.

The shipyard, in the upper-class suburb of Lidingo, custom-builds small and medium-sized boats, including sightseeing boats, ferries and speedboats. Their unexpected intervention in the Gulf War is far from welcome. "The Iranian use of our boats is bloody awful,” said Tage Boghammar, whose father founded the family business in 1905.

“We could not have foreseen this,” he told Reuters, explaining that company representatives visited Iran to make sure a trial delivery of 10 craft at SUS2OO,OOO ($336,000) apiece were used only for civilian purposes. The boats were sold to Iran in

batches between 1982 and 1984.

Mr Boghammar, aged 73, whose two sons now run the company on his retirement, said the cabin cruisers had been sold also to the United Arab Emirates and Taiwan as police vessels, but that the company would not be accepting any more export orders despite keen interest from foreign buyers.

“We have always taken great pride in our long tradition of building excellent aluminium boats, and now this happens,” Mr Boghammar said. The revolutionary guards, a 350,000-strong force formed after the 1979 Islamic revolution with Army, Navy and Air Force elements working independently of Iran’s regular forces, launch the cabin cruiser attacks from three Gulf island bases. These include Al-Fari-siya in the northern Gulf between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and Abu Musa, 60 miles from the strategically vital Straits of Hormuz, shipping sources said.

The 13-metre craft, based on a hull Boghammar earlier designed for speedboat racing, are powered by two diesel engines and equipped with radar. They attack usually at night, using their 50-knot speed to come within 60 metres of their target before firing. .An additional asset is being small enough to avoid causing alarm on radar screens.

Iran’s use of weapon systems in the tanker war, started by Iraq in 1984 with the aim of denying Iran crucial oil revenue, is dictated by necessity rather than choice, said Mr Karp of 5.1.P.R.1. “Iran is using whatever weapon it can get,” he said.

The case of the Swedish cabin cruisers is a dramatic example of the ease with which civilian goods can be turned into lethal military hardware.

“It is a tremendous headache for exporters all over the world. They have to be absolutely sure of the buyer’s intentions,” said Mr Karp. The Iraqi embassy in Stockholm warned that Iran might use the Boghammar boats for military purposes. But neutral Sweden’s War Materials Inspector, who upholds a strict ban on exports to countries at war or in volatile areas, approved the deal. “It was absolutely clear that the boats were civilian,” said Sven Erik Beckius of the War Materials Office. “A lorry or a car can also be used in war,” he said, “but they are nevertheless classified as civilian vehicles. We have to draw the line somewhere.”

The Swedish Government has refused to comment on the politically embarrassing affair, saying only that it is Sweden’s policy to protest against all attacks on merchant shipping.