Palme continues shuttle to seek peace in Gulf

Special UN envoy Olof Palme arrived in Tehran from Baghdad Thursday on his third attempt to mediate in the five-month-old Gulf war, but state radio repeated Iran's utter rejection of negotiations before Iraq pulls its troops out of the country.

The former Swedish prime minister said, "The process toward peace is difficult, but I think we are making some headway," adding that he would stay here a couple of days.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein recently threatened to take more towns. But so far, the southern port of Khorramshahr is the only big city captured by the Iraqis, and Western correspondents who recently visited it reported continued Irania n artillery and mortar fire.