World Notes THE GULF

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia likes to remain on good terms with his neighbors. That is not easy when Iran's Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini is one of them. Still & angry at the Islamic republic for provoking riots during the 1987 Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia last week broke diplomatic ties with Iran. The move followed collapse of negotiations aimed at reducing the number of Iranians who will undertake this year's pilgrimage from 150,000 to 45,000 in order to help prevent new rioting.

An additional reason for the break, according to Middle East analysts, is to bolster Saudi Arabia's image in Washington. Congressmen are lining up to block a proposed $825 million Saudi arms package. Saudi Arabia also announced its agreement to sign the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. Some U.S. lawmakers have worried that the Saudis' new Chinese medium-range missiles could be fitted with nuclear warheads or fired at Israel, or both.