General Assembly establishes chemical-use investigation machinery

Iran’s navy, air force, and commandos attacked Iraqi naval and offshore infrastructure. The operation inflicted major losses on Iraq’s maritime capability, while showing that Iran could still...

Duncan reported resistance to binding oil-import ceilings from other consumers and Reagan’s transition team. He sought a standby arrangement for rapid action if the war worsened market pressure.

State Department instructions asked for Saudi help meeting Turkish and Portuguese oil needs. The cable sought replacement supplies and price moderation while Iranian and Iraqi exports remained...

IEA ministers agreed on stock use, conservation and measures against destabilizing purchases. They set a collective demand-reduction objective but did not adopt country-specific import ceilings.

Carter’s letter to Fahd urged continued Saudi cooperation on output and pricing. It linked producer-consumer coordination to limiting economic damage while the war disrupted Iranian and Iraqi exports.

Brzezinski questioned whether U.S. policy toward the war should remain tied to the hostage crisis. The coordination committee ordered a further options meeting to support Muskie’s UN diplomacy.

OPEC’s Bali conference ended with revised official price limits despite tensions between Iran and Iraq. Diplomatic reporting said the war featured prominently without stopping the conference’s basic...

Saunders reported that Saudi contingency planning had stalled over disputes about F-15 equipment. The briefing showed limits to security cooperation that had expanded after the invasion of Iran.

The UN announced that Iran and Iraq had agreed to a second visit by Palme, planned for 13–19 January. Agreement to receive him remained distinct from agreement on peace.

After the January 5 launch, the Iranian armored offensive was encircled and suffered heavy losses. The failure sharpened debate over military command and helped reveal the limits of early...