ABSTRACT
The Soviet Union displayed little inclination to encumber, much less endanger, its positions by intensifying relations with one or the other party to the conflicts. Soviet rapprochement with Iraq, discernible since mid-1983, was certainly influenced by the constant refusal of the Ayatollah-regime in Teheran to improve relations with Moscow and probably also by the persecution of the Tudeh Party in Iran. Moscow seeks to avoid an open breach as long as Arafat advocates an international conference on the Middle East with Soviet participation—a project resisted by Syria. The return to the diplomatic stage is the main goal of Soviet policy towards the Middle East, especially in the form of participation in an international Mideast conference. A political solution to the problems brought on by the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan is no more in sight that an end to Afghan popular resistance.
