Mousavi and Abed-Rabbu in the New York Times in 1981

"After today's dogfight Iran urged Libya not to ''shy away from a confrontation'' with the United States. Foreign Minister Hossein Mousavi said it was ''an expansion of American crimes and aggression throughout the world.'' Abed Rabbo, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization's information department and a member of its executive committee, said that ''this aggression calls for revolutionary Arab measures, especially by members of the Steadfastness and Confrontation Front, to face this American miilitary escalation with comprehensive and radical steps.''"