Iraqi General Tells Plans for Big Offensive

This war-racked nation is preparing for large-scale ground operations to recapture border areas occupied by Iran as well as Iranian territories used as “springboards” for attacks against Iraq, Defense Minister Adnan Khairallah said Monday.

Baghdad Radio said Gen. Khairallah made the statement during a tour of 2nd Army positions in the central sector of the 720-mile border with Iran.

“We shall reply to the enemy’s evil by determined thrusts to recapture our occupied territories . . . as well as areas affecting the security of our forces or used as springboards for attacks across our borders,” Khairallah said.

“This will be our new policy toward Iran’s intransigence and its refusal to follow the path of peace as spelled out in the U.N. Security Council’s Resolution No. 598,” he added, referring to last July’s unimplemented U.N. cease-fire proposal.

Khairallah’s statements came a day after talks held in Baghdad with Vernon A. Walters, America’s U.N. ambassador, who has pledged renewed efforts for a follow-up resolution imposing an arms embargo against Iran.

Iran, meanwhile, reported that its fighter-bombers had staged five “heavy” raids on Iraqi armor concentrations in the southern Basra border region.