The World : Iran Opens New Offensive

Iran said its troops smashed through Iraqi defenses and killed or wounded more than 4,800 enemy soldiers in an offensive apparently aimed at boosting sagging morale after recent setbacks. Iraq confirmed that Iranian forces crossed the heavily defended border but said its troops crushed the assault after 19 hours of heavy fighting near Shalamcheh, a southeast Iraqi border town about 12 miles from the port city of Basra. It was the first major Iranian offensive in the Persian Gulf War since Parliament Speaker Hashemi Rafsanjani’s recent appointment as acting commander of the armed forces.