The World - News from July 29, 1986

A furious Iceland suspended whale-catching for research purposes to avoid what it said was a U.S. threat to impose a crippling boycott on Icelandic fish products, the country’s main source of income. Prime Minister Steingrimur Hermannsson, citing strong pressure from Washington on a North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally, said, “Theirs was an intolerable and flagrant intervention into the internal affairs of this nation.” U.S. officials expressed bafflement at Iceland’s sharp reaction and denied issuing any threats of trade sanctions if the number of whales being caught was not reduced.