Reagan Sends Bush to U.N. for Jetliner Debate

WASHINGTON — President Reagan, giving Vice President George Bush a high-profile boost, will send him to the U.N. debate Thursday on the U.S. downing of a civilian Iranian airliner to call on the Security Council to step in and help end the Iran-Iraq War, the White House said today.

“The President has asked Vice President Bush to represent the United States at tomorrow’s U.N. Security Council debate on recent events in the Persian Gulf,” White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater announced at a briefing. “The vice president’s participation reflects the importance of the issues that are at stake.

“The Iran Air tragedy, for which the President has expressed our deep regret, is a powerful reminder of the urgent need to end the brutal and senseless Iran-Iraq War,” the spokesman said. “It is long past time to stop the bloodshed.”

To Push Resolution

Fitzwater said Bush, in an unusual trip before the U.N. body, will call on members of the Security Council to work for the “acceptance and full implementation” of year-old U.N. Resolution 598 calling for a cease-fire in the nearly eight-year-old war. Iran has refused to accept the resolution, which also calls for an arms embargo against the country refusing to abide by a cease-fire.

Fitzwater said Reagan, in dispatching Bush to the United Nations, is indicating the matter is “of highest importance to the United States and to the world.”

“The vice president can make these points dramatically and forcefully,” Fitzwater said of Bush, who has served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

“This way we can again highlight our previously stated position” that the tragic airline shooting was a direct result of the war in the strategic gulf, he said.