A Chronology of U.S.-Middle East Relations

July 18:

The United States and 12 other members of the United Nations Security Council voted to extend for three months the mandate of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The Soviet Union and Poland abstained. The three month extension expires next October 19.

July 19:

President Reagan met at the White House for about one hour with the Amir of Bahrain, Sheikh Isa Bin Sulman Al-Khalifa, who, at a welcoming ceremony, spoke of his belief in the Palestinian people's right to live "within secure national boundaries."

July 20:

Commenting on the Israeli cabinet's announced decision July 20 to "redeploy" its troops in lebanon to positions south of the Shuf mountains and the Beirut-Damascus highway, State Department spokesman John Hughes reiterated U.S. policy of seeking the "full withdrawal" of all foreign troops in Lebanon. He added: "Any partial withdrawal, therefore, should be within the framework of that objective and should not complicate the very difficult tasks facing the government of President Gemayel" of Lebanon.

July 21:

President Amin Gemayel of Lebanon, who arrived in Washington July 19 on a state visit, told a gathering of the National Press Club that Israel's decision of a partial troop pullout from Lebanon "could endanger all the peace process and also maybe the (Lebanon-Israel) agreement of the 17th of the May" on the full withdrawal of Israeli forces. One day earlier he told reporters on Capitol Hill: "We are against the partial withdrawal...(It) means a de facto partition."

July 22:

President Reagan announced that he had chosen Robert C. McFarlane, currently deputy national security affairs advisor, to be his chief negotiator to the Middle East, replacing Philip Habib who had served the President as Middle East envoy since May, 1981. U.S. officials acknowledged that Syria's refusal to receive Mr. Habib last May was a factor in the decision to replace him.

July 22:

Three U.S. servicemen serving in the multinational peace-keeping force in Lebanon were wounded slightly when the Beirut airport, where they were deployed, came under rocket fire in heavy fighting between Lebanese Christians and Druse militias in the mountains east of the airport—fighting which left over 20 persons dead and more than 40 wounded.

July 22:

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that Iran had agreed to pay the Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co. of New York $136 million in a settlement from the 1979 Iranian revolution, during which billions of dollars in U.S. corporate assets were seized by the Khomeini government. The amount of the settlement is the largest to date in a series of similar U.S.-Iran negotiations.

July 23:

President Amin Gemayel of Lebanon concluded a five-day visit to Washington, where he met with President Reagan and senior Administration officials to discuss ways of achieving a complete withdrawal of all foreign troops in Lebanon. A framework for the withdrawal of Israeli forces was signed by Lebanon and Israel last May 17.

July 25:

The U.S. Air Force delivered the first shipment of approximately $10 million worth of military supplies to the government of Chad to help it defeat a Libyan-backed insurgency led by former Chadian president Goukouni Oueddei. The aid—which was authorized by President Reagan July 18—consists of clothing, jeeps and other types of vehicles. The Administration says it is "strongly opposed" to Libya's involvement in the insurgency.

July 26:

Responding to an Iranian radio broadcast suggesting that to further its war aims against Iraq Iran could bar shipping in the Gulf, State Department spokesman John Hughes reiterated "the U.S. commitment, first expressed at the outbreak of hostilities, to freedom of navigation in the Gulf..." Asked if this meant the Administration had reaffirmed the so-called Carter Doctrine Mr. Hughes replied, "Yes."

July 26:

President Reagan said, when asked at a news conference if he though that Israel's announced plans of a partial withdrawal in Lebanon amounted to a de facto partition of that country: "No. I am very hopeful that if this partial withdrawal takes place that it will be recognized and admitted to be by the Israelis as one phase of their agreement to withdraw." The President added in response to another question that if Lebanon were partitioned "...it would be occupation by other countries and, yes, I think that is awful..."

July 28:

At the end of three days of meetings with Israel's Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir and Defense Minister Moshe Arens, Secretary of State George Shultz said: "Any notion that this redeployment (of Israeli troops in Lebanon) is part of an effort to stay in Lebanon is totally wrong." He described Israel's partial pullback plan as "...a step in the direction of total withdrawal." The two ministers were invited to Washington by President Reagan following Prime Minister Begin's postponement of a trip he was scheduled to make in late July.

August 2:

The United States cast the lone veto on a U.N. Security Council resolution which said Israeli settlements in occupied Arab territory "have no legal validity" and "constitute a major and serious obstruction" to Mideast peace. Charles Lichenstein, who cast the dissenting vote, said the U.S. objected to the characterization of Israel's settlement policy as having no legal standing, but added that the U.S. did "not vote against the draft because we approve of Israel's settlement policy. On the contrary." Thirteen other nations approved the resolution; Zaire abstained.