U.S. Forces Stalked Iranian Ship for Days

WASHINGTON--U.S. military forces had shadowed the Iranian ship they attacked Monday night for days, waiting for conclusive evidence the vessel was laying underwater mines, Pentagon officials said yesterday.

The officials, who requested anonymity, said the vessel Iran Ajr had been tracked by radar and by air for several days as it steamed through the central gulf toward Bahrain "because it had been seen loading suspect devices" before leaving an Iranian port.

"It was no accident" that U.S. helicopters from the frigate USS Jarrett were flying near the Iranian ship Monday night, using infrared sensors to monitor its activities, one official added.

"When we caught them in the act, we had the evidence we needed and we moved in," the official said.

The Pentagon said three Iranians were killed and two were listed as missing in the attack, while 26 Iranians were rescued, four of them wounded. It said a Navy boarding party found 10 mines aboard the Iran Ajr, a 1,662-ton amphibious landing craft.

Reporters in a Pentagon press pool who were allowed to visit the Iranian vessel said there were three large gashes in the hull and deck and that it was pocketed by machine-gun fire and stained with blood. They quoted sources as saying it appeared the crew had destroyed documents before abandoning the ship.

President Reagan, meantime, defended the U.S. attack on the ship as clearly "authorized by law" because the vessel was sowing mines in international waters.

Reagan also insisted, however, the United States had not entered a shooting war with Iran, and White House and Pentagon spokesman said the crewmen of the Iranian vessel would be returned to Iran.

At the same time, Iranian leaders dismissed the U.S. account of the incident and vowed revenge.

Iranian President Ali Khamenei, appearing at the United Nations, described the American account as a "pack of lies" and declared: "The U.S. shall receive a proper response for this abominable act."

Pentagon sources reported U.S. military bases around the globe had been reminded to maintain an alert for terrorist activity, and tensions in the gulf itself remained high.

An unidentified Iranian hovercraft closed within one mile or so of an American frigate that was towing the crippled Iran Ajr on Tuesday afternoon, the Defense Department said, and stopped its approach only after warning shots were fired across its bow.