MOSCOW SUPPORTS FREE GULF NAVIGATION, ENVOY SAYS

  The Soviet Union supports the freedom
  of navigation in the Gulf and does not support any act which
  would cause the deterioration of the situation in the region,
  its ambassador to Kuwait, Ernest Zverev, told the Kuwaiti news
  agency KUNA.
      "We support the freedom of navigation in the Arabian Gulf
  and the Strait of Hormuz," the agency quoted Zverev as saying.
      KUNA also said the envoy had discussed the deployment of
  Iranian missiles near the Strait of Hormuz with Kuwaiti Foreign
  Undersecretary Suliman Majed al-Shaheen.
      A British naval source in the Gulf said today Iran had
  test-fired its new Silkworm missiles and set up launching sites
  in the area.
      The tests had been successful and the missiles could be
  used against shipping in the strait, the source added.
      But Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Hojatoleslam Akbar
  Hashemi Rafsanjani said Iran did not need missiles to close the
  strait because "we can close it with artillery only."
      The U.S. Has said it will not allow Iran to use missiles to
  choke off oil shipments and offered its warships to escort
  Kuwaiti tankers past the missile batteries in the strait.
  

