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9. Mr Abe said this was difficult to judge. The initial
Iranian response to the Japanese proposals had been negative, but this was predictable. But a solution along the lines of
the Japanese proposal would probably eventually have to be
employed. There had been discussions with other countries in
New York and general agreement that there was a place for Japanese ideas. The Japanese government hoped the UN Secretary
General would now take the proposals forward.
10.
Mr Luce said he was encouraged by Mr Abe's comments. With
the agreement between Iran and Iraq on the cessation of attacks
on civilian targets, there had been some movement towards ending
the war, and the Japanese proposals, which he fully supported,
offered a route for further progress.
11. Mr Abe said that it seemed that Iraq was becoming more
confident that she would not suffer a military defeat, while
Iran was determined to keep going but was weakening in fighting
power. The result of these trends appeared to be an increasing
interest in some circles in Tehran in a peaceful settlement.
Japan could not adopt a high profile on this problem and hoped
the UN Secretary General could act as an intermediary.
12. Mr Luce said he appreciated Mr Abe's briefing and hoped Japan
and the UK could stay in touch on the problem at official level.
There was one further issue which he would like to raise with
Mr Abe. This was the forthcoming vote at the UN on the Argentine
Falklands resolution. The British Government had been worried by
President Alfonsin's hard line speech in New York which had con-
tained no reference to the principles of self-determination of
non-aggression. He strongly believed that the Falklands conflict
had occurred because the British Government and the international
community had been guilty of sending the wrong signals to the
then Argentine leadership. He was concerned that this mistake
should not be repeated with the latest Argentine UN resolution, and he therefore hoped that the Japanese government would give serious consideration to a negative vote or at least an abstention.
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