Visits by Richard Luce, Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, to the Middle East, January and March-April 1985

This file concerns the visits to the Middle East of the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Richard Luce. It contains itineraries, briefs and correspondence on:

• Luce’s visit to Bahrain and the meetings he attended there
• Bilateral trade, including statistical tables
• Oil production and prices
• Defence equipment sales, including of Chieftain tanks
• Threat of 'sedition' from Iran and internal security issues
• Allegations by the UAE’s Foreign Minister Rashid Abdulla that the Abu Nidal Organisation assassinated the UAE’s Ambassador in Paris
• Development of the Gulf Cooperation Council
• Iran-Iraq War and contacts with the Iranian Government
• Arab-Israeli conflict and a peace initiative launched by US President Ronald Reagan
• Text of remarks by Luce on Israel’s commitment to peace and a request from Israel for clarification
• Jordan-Egypt relations
• Nuclear non-proliferation in the Middle East
• Bahrain-Saudi causeway
• Visit to Oman by Luce
• Impending visit to Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia by Luce, where he is to hold talks with the Saudi Interior Minister Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud and the Defence Minister Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud