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.