[5] On 14 April, the American guided missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts struck a mine while transiting international waters as part of Operation Earnest Will, the 1987–88 effort to protect reflagged[further explanation needed] Kuwaiti oil tankers from Iranian attacks during the Iran–Iraq War.

On 18 April, the attack destroyed, damaged, or sank two Iranian oil platforms, three warships, several armed boats, and two fighter jets.

As the SAG departed the Sassan oil field, two Iranian F-4s made an attack run but broke off when Lynde McCormick locked its fire-control radar on the aircraft.

Halfway to the Rahksh oil platform, the attack was called off in an attempt to ease pressure on the Iranians and signal a desire for de-escalation.

Navy SEALs were assigned to capture, occupy, and destroy the Sirri platform but because it had already been heavily damaged by naval gunfire, an assault was not required.

Iran responded by dispatching Boghammar speedboats to attack various targets in the Persian Gulf, including the American-flagged supply ship Willie Tide, the Panamanian-flagged oil rig Scan Bay and the British tanker York Marine.

The two VA-95 aircraft dropped Rockeye cluster bombs on the speedboats, sinking one and damaging several others, which then fled to the Iranian-controlled island of Abu Musa.

[13] Fighting continued when the Iranian frigate IRIS Sahand departed Bandar Abbas and challenged elements of an American surface group.

[14] In retaliation for the attacks, Iran fired Silkworm missiles, suspected to be the HY-4 version, from land bases against SAG Delta in the Strait of Hormuz and against USS Gary in the northern central Persian Gulf, but all missed because of evasive maneuvers and use of decoys by the ships.

Iran took the offer and combat ceased, though both sides remained on alert, and near-clashes occurred throughout the night and into the next day as the forces steamed within the Gulf.

Two days after the battle, Lynde McCormick was directed to escort a U.S. oiler out through the Strait of Hormuz, while a Scandinavian-flagged merchant remained near, probably for protection.

The Cobra, attached to USS Trenton, was flying reconnaissance from Wainwright and crashed sometime after dark about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Abu Musa island.

[17] In his book "Tanker War," author Lee Allen Zatarain indicates there was some evidence the helicopter may have crashed while evading hostile fire from the island.

[citation needed] A month later, the guided-missile cruiser USS Vincennes arrived, summoned in haste to protect the frigate Samuel B. Roberts as it was hauled back to the United States.

On 3 July 1988, Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, a commercial airliner flying a scheduled route, killing all 290 crew and passengers.

On 6 November 2003 the International Court of Justice dismissed a claim by Iran and a counterclaim by the United States'[7] for reparations for breach of a 1955 'Treaty of Amity' between the two countries.