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IRAQ'S ECONOMIC LIFELINE now rests on the single slender thread of the pipeline across Turkey to the Mediterranean port of Doytol, carrying about 650,000 bid of Iraq's oil exports. The Syrian closure of Iraq's trans-Syria pipeline will, according to sources in Baghdad, cut Iraq's foreign exchange earnings by as much as one quarter.

IRAN CLAIMS TO have taken nearly 500 square miles of Iraqi occupied territory in the offensive they began on 21 March. In the fierce fighting that erupted in Shush and Dezful area in the southern sector of the battlefront both combatants have claimed great successes and each allege that heavy losses have been inflicted on the other side.

THE COMPARATIVE QUIET ON THE IRAQ-IRAN BATTLEFRONT is in direct contrast to the high level of diplomatic activity being generated from Baghdad. Spurred on by Iran's continued refusal to come to a negotiated peace except on Iran's unacceptable terms and looking to a not-so-distant spring when Iran might resume its military offensive, Iraq is working hard to bolster its political defences and obtain increased external support.

IRAN'S ANTICIPATED OFFENSIVE in the Gulf war began earlier this month; not in the region near Basra as some military observers expected, but in the Misan province with the town of Al Amarah as the apparent objective, some 200 miles south-east of the capital.

THE TWO WARS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, In the Gulf and in the Lebanon, are both recognised tragedies not only or the countries immediately involved, but also for the region as a whole. Both have brought about the awful human suffering and wreaked the material and economic havoc that all wars create. But no two wars are quite the same, either in nature and character or in scale and extent, and the Gulf war and the conflict in the Lebanon have in common only the similarity of violence.

The Iraqi government-organised international conference, held this week in Baghdad, is entitled 'The Impact of the Iran-Iraq War on World Peace and Security'. Speaking at its opening, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Tariq Aziz, reiterated the Iraqi contention that the international community at large continues to ignore - or at least cares little about - the nearly four year old war.

THE UNITED NATIONS' SECRETARY GENERAL has informed the governments of Iran and Iraq that he is "ready to despatch a mission to the area as soon as assurances for the safety of the mission are received". The mission will have a two-fold purpose: Firstly to update a previous UN mission which reported on war damage to civilian areas and, secondly, to ascertain" The authoritative positions of the two governments on the issues related to the conflict".

THE OPENING OF THE TRIAL of the accused in last December's bombings in Kuwait turns an unwelcome page in the country's short independent history. From independence in 1961, Kuwait enjoyed an enviable internal tranquillity, marked by a comparatively liberal regime, under which most Kuwaitis devoted much of their time to the making of money (or, if a Suq al Manakh punter, to losing it). From the safe security of the 'Little Fortress,' Kuwaitis pursued an active and individual foreign policy, enemy to almost none, and friend to nearly all.

THE AFFAIRS OF ALL THE GULF come into close focus on 9 November, when the Heads of State of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) meet in Doha for the Council's Summit Conference. It is a meeting at which, more so than for any previous GCC summit, grave and dangerous situations of an international significance must occupy as much attention as regional domestic concerns.

THREE YEARS AGO THIS MONTH troops of the Iraqi Army moved across the border into Iranian territory and, officially on 4 September 1980, the bitter strife of a new Middle East war began. In those now distant days of 1980 the ,Iraqi government announced its action with a lengthy list of stern demands on Iran and unequivocal claims for sole Iraqi sovereignty over the Shatt al Arab waterway.

The recent IMF internal report on Saudi Arabia suggested that a clampdown on offshore trading in the riyal was imminent, as the Ministry of Finance became more worried about speculation in the currency. The move to price larger contracts in dollars should prove a more effective way of regaining control than irksome legislation or applying informal pressure on offenders.

Italy's ENI is the subject of scandalous rumours surrounding a highly advantageous direct oil supply agreement made in the summer with Saudi Arabia. For local political reasons, the issue has become a cause celebre in Italy, but if any more revelations come out the Saudis are quite liable to rethink their policy of selling oil directly to a government which cannot avoid scandal.

The performance of the dollar is worrying OPEC again. The chances are that Saudi Arabia will manage to forestall any action, but the fight to do so will be tougher than it has been in the past.

Saudi interest in diversifying sources of arms supplies is reviving as Riyadh's refusal to back the Egyptian peace treaty raises antagonism in the US Congress. Waiting in the wings to make a major penetration of the Gulf arms market is one of the Third World's largest producers, Brazil. The Brazilians are prepared to go for barter deals, and their machinery is more adaptable to Middle East conditions.

Although the South Koreans are passing through a particularly painful phase of economic readjustment, including a sharp shift away from their previous export mania, the Seoul government has acted swiftly and with apparent success to reassure the Saudis of its commitment to the Kingdom's public housing program, in which South Korean construction firms enjoy a position of lucrative domination.