Iran accuses Iraq of infringing ceasefire

Iran has complained to the United Nations about what it says are repeated violations by Iraq of their 1988 ceasefire.

The Iranian representative at the UN outlined the alleged violations in a letter to the secretary-general, Kofi Annan, accusing Baghdad of infringing the ceasefire twenty-seven times in December and January. Among the incidents listed were an attempt by an Iraqi citizen to enter Iran illegally, patrols by Iraqi speedboats off the Iranian coast, and various construction activities, including the building of observation posts in the border area. Disclosure of the complaint came as an Iranian newspaper the Tehran Times warned the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, against what it called another blunder that would lead to a regional catastrophe.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service