MOSCOW SAYS WILL RETALIATE AGAINST GULF ATTACKSAny Iranian attack on Soviet ships in the Gulf will bring a forceful and violent response, a Soviet foreign ministry official said in an interview published here
    Alexander Ivanov, head of the Gulf desk at the Soviet Foreign Ministry, told Al-Rai al-Aam newspaper Moscow "will answer back with force and violence if Iran attempts to attack any Soviet ship or tanker in the Gulf." A Soviet tanker hit a mine in the Gulf last month
    Ivanov also accused the United States of stepping up the regional crisis and of failing to exert genuine efforts to end the Iran-Iraq war
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