Soviets Fear War in Gulf : Saddam’s Videotape Sent to U.S.

Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze said today that war could break out in the Persian Gulf at any moment, and he called Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait an “act of terrorism.”

In a speech to the General Assembly, Shevardnadze referred to Aug. 2, the date of the invasion, as “Black Thursday,” and called the action “irrational.”

“Iraq flagrantly violated the United Nations Charter, the principles of international law, the universally recognized norms of morality and the standards of civilized behavior,” the minister said.

In Washington, the State Department said today that it received a 76-minute videotaped message from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The tape was delivered to the department by Iraqi Ambassador Mohammed Mashat. Officials were making a copy of the tape before handing it to the news media later in the day.

Hussein taped his address in response to an eight-minute message delivered on Iraqi television by President Bush 10 days ago.

Most U.S. television networks have said they are unlikely to broadcast the entire tape. Bush, when told last week that Hussein’s message might run 90 minutes, said the tape would put Americans to sleep.

Shevardnadze spoke on the second day of the General Assembly session. On Monday, leaders from France, Iran, Brazil, Argentina, Poland and Indonesia condemned Iraq for invading Kuwait.

The Soviet foreign minister hinted at the possibility of a U.N. military operation in the gulf region, noting that “the United Nations has the power to suppress ‘acts of aggression.’ ”

“There is ample evidence that this right can be exercised,” he said. But such a step should come only after all peaceful, non-military forms of pressure have been applied, he said.

Until the invasion, the Soviet Union was Iraq’s strongest ally.

Later today, the Soviet minister was to preside over a special meeting of the Security Council attended by up to 12 foreign ministers. The session is expected to end with passage of a resolution extending to air corridors the U.N.-ordered embargo on trade with Iraq and occupied Kuwait.

The air embargo would ask all nations to bar flights to and from Iraq.