1.
GV Damaged buildings in Qasr-I-Shirin, Iran (3 shots)
0.11

2.
SV Television aerial ZOOM OUT TO wreckage of broadcasting and TV station
0.18

3.
GV PAN wreckage of TV station including fallen transmitting tower
0.35

4.
GV PAN Iraqi vehicles moving through Qasr-I-Shirin
0.48

5.
GV Iraqi tanks moving through town (2 shots)
1.09

6.
GV Damaged Iranian customs post at Khasrawi (2 shots)
1.12

7.
GV ZOOM OUT Customs post
1.18

8.
CU No Smoking sign in Arabic and English
1.22

9.
SV Soldiers standing next to damaged car at customs post
1.26

10.
GV Entrance to post
1.33

11.
GV INTERIOR Damaged building
1.38

12.
GV Iraqi flag on building
1.42

13.
TRAVEL SHOT Iraqi tanks deployed on hillside near border
1.50

14.
GV Column of smoke from burning Abadan oil refinery (2 shots)
2.02

15.
GV Fire at refinery PULL BACK TO River
2.11

16.
GV PAN Smoke over Abadan
2.19




Initials AM/



TELERECORDING

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: The Gulf war continued unabated on Tuesday (30 September) after Iran had rejected iraq;s conditional offer to end the conflict. Iran vowed to fight until its territory has been cleared of Iraqi forces. The battle for the oil refinery city of Abadan has intensified and further fighting was reported around the iranian border post of Qasr-I-Shirin.

SYNOPSIS: Qasr-I-Shirin lies on the main Baghdad-Teheran road and is the only Iranian town known to have been completely captured by Iraqi troops.

One of the significant casualties of the battle for the town was the radio and television station nearby. Its transmitting tower lies in ruins, as do most of the station's buildings. A few miles to the north of Qasr-I-Shirin the opposing forces are locked in important battles for the towns of Dezful and Ahvaz.

In the town itself. Iraqi trucks are constantly moving goods and troops to the fighting. Most of the forces were moving towards Khorramshahr and Abadan where accurate Iranian shelling of the main highway was not preventing the Iraqis from moving up their convoys. Despite the incessant movement of tanks and armoured vehicles Iraq has claimed no further victories -- the war seems to have reached a stalemate, with neither side making any advance.

During their push towards Qasr-I-Shirin the Iraqis Virtually destroyed the Iranian customs port at Khasrawi, but it remains one of few triumphs. Military experts suggest that the Iranians have overcome their lack of spares or Maintenance for their tanks by tactical use of the air force. Increasingly, Iranian planes are acting as support for their ground forces rather than attacking targets inside Iraq.

As the Iraqis raised their flag over Khasrawi, the tank forces began a build-up along the border for a planned final push into Abadan.

The Iraqis have been besieging Abadan for more than a week but small groups of Iranian Revolutionary Guards have been maintaining a determined resistance.

The Abadan refinery -- one of the world's biggest -- has been seriously damaged by Iraqi shelling and bombing. The smoke from the burning refinery hangs across the disputed Shatt al-Arab waterway, an economic lifeline to the Gulf for both Iran and Iraq.