U.N. Cease-Fire Monitors Arrive in Iran, Iraq

U.N. cease-fire monitors arrived in Tehran and Baghdad on Wednesday as Iran warned of difficulties ahead in negotiations with Iraq on a lasting peace.

Five members of the U.N. Iran-Iraq Military Observers Group (UNIIMOG) in each capital will lay the groundwork for a 350-strong unit to police a cease-fire in the Persian Gulf War due to start Aug. 20 along the 740-mile border.

“They are going to be very difficult talks in Geneva,” the head of Iran’s mission to the U.N. in Geneva, Sirous Nasseri, said in Tehran as the observers arrived.

The foreign minister-level talks seeking to end the eight-year war are to be conducted under U.N. Security Council Resolution 598, which among other things calls for a cease-fire, exchange of prisoners and withdrawal to internationally recognized boundaries.

At the United Nations on Wednesday, the Security Council met in informal consultations to approve Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar’s list of the 24 nations sending officers to monitor the Iran-Iraq cease-fire.

A Yugoslav diplomat disclosed that the senior officer of the U.N. observer force will be a Yugoslav, Maj. Gen. Slavko Jovic. The official announcement is expected today.

The participating nations are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ghana, Hungary, Indonesia, India, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Senegal, Sweden, Turkey, Yugoslavia and Zambia.