Iranians shell Iraqi port

Press, 4 June 1982, Page 6

Iranians shell Iraqi port

NZPA-Reuter Beirut Iranian heavy artillery shelled residential areas of the Iraqi port of Basra yesterday and an Iraqi warplane flew over Teheran and the holy city of Qom as a warning against such attacks, Iraq’s Supreme Command has said.

A command communique issued by the official Iraqi News Agency said the purpose of the “mock raid” was to prove Iraq’s Air Force could reach any point in Iran, and to , warn Iran against shelling of Iraqi cities and vital installations.

The communique repeated earlier Iraqi threats to react decisively against any Iranian attack “until the enemy follows the right path and abandons its arrogance.”

In Iran, Teheran Radio broadcast an air-raid alarm but later said Iranian fighters had driven off highflying Iraqi planes which reached the capital at twice the speed of sound,

It was the first time since the early months of the 20-

month-old Gulf War that an Iraqi warplane had flown so deep into Iranian territory.' Teheran is 480 km from the border.

Iraqi planes yesterday also attacked Iranian infantry positions and armoured vehicles north of Khorramshahr, the port city opposite Basra which was recovered by Iran in an advance last month.

The Iraqi communique said they scored direct hits, inflicted damage on personnel and equipment, and all -returned safely to base. It said Iraqi troops killed 18 Iranians- and destroyed two field guns in parts of the central and southern sectors where Iraq still holds salients into Iranian territory. The Iraqi Army lost 10 men, it added. Iranian forces have driven the Iraqis out of almost all the territory they occupied at the start of the war in September, 1980. Military commanders on both sides have mostly reverted to cross-border shelling with long-range artillery.