Iran Accuses Iraq of Violating Truce in Attack on Kurds

Iran accused Iraq on Monday of violating a U.N.-arranged truce with weekend rocket attacks on border villages in northern Iran during its push to crush Kurdish rebels in the area.

In Geneva, where Iran-Iraq peace talks dragged on for a 12th day with no progress reported, U.N. mediator Jan Eliasson said truce observers have not reported any serious breaches of the cease-fire.

Iran’s official news agency quoted an Iranian military source as saying that Iraqi jets attacked Kurdish and Iranian villages in northern Iran’s Azerbaijan province over the weekend. There was no immediate confirmation of the charge.

Since the cease-fire began Aug. 20, Iraq has turned its attention to putting down a rebellion by Kurdish separatists supported by neighboring Iran.

Kurdish guerrillas Monday reported killing or wounding 7,000 Iraqi soldiers during what the Kurds called an Iraqi chemical weapons offensive in northern Iraq. The rebels also acknowledged losing some bases.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials abruptly postponed for at least five days the scheduled pullout of the missile cruiser Vincennes from the Persian Gulf region after at least one Arab government raised last-minute objections, U.S. military sources said. The vessel was to have ended its patrol duties on Sunday and was earlier reported to actually have left.