Iran, Iraq step up ‘war of cities’
NZPA-Reuter Nicosia Iraq has inflicted the heaviest casualties in a week-old revival of its “war of the cities” with Iran, combining missile raids on the capital Teheran with bombing runs over other major Iranian centres. Saying that it wanted to force Iran to accept a United Nations-ordered ceasefire in the 7^-year war, Iraq fired six missiles at Teheran on Saturday and bombed seven ' other cities. Teheran Radio, moni- : tored in Nicosia, said the ■ Iraqi attacks killed 29! civilians in Teheran and j 28 residents of other cities I in the west, south and; south-west. More than 130! people were injured, it| said. The Iranian news; agency IRNA said Iran' fired four missiles at Bag-' dad and bombarded the! southern Iraqi city of!
Basra with missiles and artillery. It said four other Iraqi centres along the central war front were •hit.
Iran has now reported at least 170 people killed and more than 400 injured since the latest round of tit-for-tat raids on population centres began on February 27 with an Iraqi air raid on Teheran.
The Iraqi Foreign Minister, Tareq Aziz, in a letter to the United Nations Secretary-Gen-eral, Javier Perez de Cuellar, said that the first Teheran raid was on a refinery and that other Iraqi attacks w r ere aimed at military and economic installations. He accused Iran of initiating the war of the cities and said Iraq retaliated in self-defence.
Western diplomats have said Bagdad wanted to put the Gulf war back under the international spotlight
amid moves in the United Nations to impose an arms embargo on Iran. Iraq, which has reported an unspecified number of civilians killed and wounded from i Iranian attacks, said on Saturday that its missile bombardment of Teheran would continue until Iran observed UN Security Council Resolution 598 calling for a ceasefire. Iran repeated It would not accept the resolution until Iraq was branded the aggressor and said its “heavy and incessant” retaliation would continue as long as Bagdad kept up its attacks. It said Iraqis would be safe only in four cities regarded as holy by Muslims. Iraq, which has fired about 30 missiles at Teheran since last Mon-
day, denied an Iranian report on Saturday that three of its jets were shot down over western Iran.
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Press, 7 March 1988, Page 8
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384Iran, Iraq step up ‘war of cities’ Press, 7 March 1988, Page 8
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