The significance of the new Iranian move is that the missile attacks have come at night.

The Israelis want the Iranians to fear an American attack, because they believe this will deter Iranian moves against Israeli interests.

There appeared to be initial acceptance of the Iranian move by Arab Governments allied with Iraq.

Western military officials say it is a perfect marriage in the face of the desperate Iranian moves.

But Iraq's cautious reception of this Iranian move tells of the strain, the fear and the insecurity that the war has wrought here among the country's 15 million people and its leadership.

There is little question that France, Russia and the European Union knew, as one senior French foreign affairs official put it today, "they were opening the abscess" with the Iranian move.

It must stabilize permanently Iraq's frontier with Turkey and prevent further Iranian moves into northern Iraq.

Mr. Aziz, in a statement read over radio and television, described the Iranian move as "deceptive," and he called it a tactical decision to "gain time."

A spokesman for the Foreign Minister said the Iranian move, "no matter what the motives are, cannot meet with our understanding or support."

Perry stated that the Iranian moves threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway on which moved a significant part of the world's oil production.