Sometime in early 1988, while the nine-year war between Iran and Iraq was still raging, veteran British publisher Abdullah Jonathan Wallace paid a visit to his old friend, Bahrain’s information minister Tariq Almoayed.
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As they drove out of Manama to Tariq’s home on another island in Bahrain’s archipelago, Wallace looked seaward and was shocked to see a task force of US Navy ships moored in the Persian Gulf.
“Tariq! Look! Ships!” Wallace excitedly said to the Bahraini minister.
Almoayed, who was driving, kept his eyes firmly fixed on the road.
“Ships? I see no ships,” he replied, giving Wallace an unforgettable anecdote to later relate to his Middle East team at the United Press International news agency, which included this reporter.
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That unprecedented deployment of US Navy ships in the territorial waters of a Gulf monarchy was in preparation for Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval assets.