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Article: The Strait of Hommus; there's more to the Persian Gulf war than geopolitics, a report from the scene.
- Article from:
- The Washington Monthly
- Article date:
- March 1, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1988 Washington Monthly Company. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Strait of Hommus
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates--The shipping agent from Bombay lowers his teacup and whispers. "I know a vessel that leaves the Gulf tonight," he says. "From the Dubai Creek at three. If there is no Iranian trouble, you will reach the Strait of Hormuz after dawn."
Outside his office, along the creek that winds through Dubai and into the Persian Gulf, Iranian traders are unloading pistachios and Persian carpets, ferried illicitly from Bandar Abbas. Outgoing sailors pile their teakwood dhows with Marlboros, Levis, and Panasonic boom boxes for the 12-hour return to Iran.
"You have never met me and do not know my name," says the ...