Tying the Knot with Iraq

It was something of a historic moment last week when the red, white and black flag of Iraq was raised on P Street in Washington. An Iraqi-owned building, used for unofficial diplomatic and commercial tasks, was converted into a full-fledged embassy as the U.S. resumed formal relations with the Arab country after a 17-year estrangement. To mark the event, President Reagan and Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz met at the White House. Iraq broke its ties with the U.S. in 1967 in protest of U.S. support for Israel in the Six-Day War with Arab nations. For the past two years Iraq has reduced its support for international terrorism, tempered its opposition to Israel, and tried to balance its longstanding military and political connection to the Soviet Union with overtures toward the U.S.

American officials stress there will be no military sales to Iraq, and the U.S. policy of neutrality in the four-year-old Iraq-Iran war will not change. Said a senior Administration official: "We are prepared to discuss improved relations with Iran when it ceases its support for international terrorism and when it is prepared to seek a negotiated settlement of its war with Iraq."