The Middle East Situation

VOL. XXXI

NO. 42

25-JULY-1988

The Middle East Situation

Iran's decision on 17 July to accept Security Council Resolution 598 was sototally unexpected and uncharacteristic that the incredulity with which it wasgreeted only began to dissipate when Ayatollah Khomeini threw his weightbelatedly behind it on 20 July. Even then, there were doubts (particularly inBaghdad) about Iran's motives in making a move which on the face of it runscounter to everything the Islamic Republic...