Renewed efforts asked to implement resolution 598; mandate of UNIIMOG renewed.

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar has called on Iranian and Iraqi leaders to join him in a renewed effort to complete the task of implementing Security Council resolution 598 (1987) "as the way to achieve an overall political settlement which would bring about good neighbourly relations, security and stability in the region, and peace which can only be lasting if it is based on the principle of no victor, no vanquished".

Between 4 July and mid-September, the Secretary-General met twice, separately, with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati and his Iraqi counterpart, Tariq Aziz, to explore ways to speed implementation of resolution 598.

On 19 September, he announced that Iran and Iraq had agreed to a round of "shuttle negotiations" between the two sides to be conducted by his Personal Representative Jan K. Eliasson as of the end of October. Mr. Eliasson would travel between Baghdad and Tehran to explore whether the parties would "move from their initial negotiating position to a more flexible position" The Secretary-General said he was optimistic because both countries wanted and needed peace.

On 18 August, the Secretary-General issued a statement to mark the first anniversary of the 20 August 1988 cease-fire ending the eight-year war between the two countries. He said he took some heart from renewed expressions of co-operation received from the two sides, assuring him of their commitment to the implementation of that resolution.

Resolution 598, adopted unanimously on 20 July 1987, calls inter alia for a cease-fire, an end to all military actions in the region, withdrawal of forces to internationally recognized boundaries, dispatch of a team of UN observers to supervise those actions, and release and repatriation of prisoners of war.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar stressed that UN Military Observers, in monitoring compliance with the cease-fire during the past year, had helped save countless lives and reduced tension in the region.

However, he warned, there was "no reason for complacency, for the silencing of guns does not mean the restoration of security and stability in the region", as called for by resolution 598.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar said that the withdrawal to the internationally recognized boundaries and the release and repatriation POWs are urgent requirements of the resolution.

Although it was perhaps inevitable that the long war should have left deep suspicion in its wake, he felt that restoration of normalcy in the economic life of the two countries would go a long way to dispel such suspicion.

He recalled that he and his Personal Representative, Jan K. Eliasson, had held talks with the Foreign Ministers of Iran and Iraq for almost a year, presenting suggestions to facilitate implementation of resolution 598 "in a manner which would generate mutual confidence rather than further mistrust".

Mandate of UNIIMOG renewed

The mandate of the United Nations Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group (UNIIMOG)-which monitors the cease-fire between Iran and Iraq-has been renewed until 31 March 1990. In unanimously adopting resolution 642 (1989), the Security Council also called on Iran and Iraq to implement immediately resolution 598.

The Observer Group, established on 9 August 1988 by the Council to supervise the UNsponsored cease-fire between Iran and Iraq and withdrawal of troops to internationally recognized boundaries, is made up of some 400 personnel from 26 countries. It is under the command of Major-General Slavko Jovic of Yugoslavia.

The Secretary-General reported that to a very large extent, the cease-fire had been maintained. However, he was concerned about restrictions imposed on the Group's freedom of movement and its inability to obtain facilities and co-operation needed to carry out its mandate.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar said the present situation of "no war-no peace" contained elements of instability for both countries as well as for the region. Due largely to mutual mistrust, he said, the divergence in their interpretations of how to fully implement resolution 598 had prevented forward movement.