Indications of a shift in Soviet Russia’s Middle East policy were seen today in a dispatch by John K. Cooley, the Christian Science Monitor’s correspondent in Lebanon. These, he reported, include improved relations with Iran, Turkey and Pakistan, which apparently stem from Sino-Soviet strife. Other factors, he reported, are the result of many complex issues, including declining French interest in Morocco and Tunisia, growing Soviet influence in Algeria, and the economic rivalries in the Sahara between Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Spain and other Western powers.
The Soviet Union’s recent sale of $100,000,000 worth of arms to Iran has shocked Egypt’s President Nasser, Washington observers believe. Now the Shah of Iran is believed to be seeking modern anti-aircraft weapons to defend the country’s seaports, and oil installations against possible attacks by Nasser’s aircraft.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.