Economist says Soviets flood world with gold

The Soviet Union, second largest gold exporter in the world, is threatening worldwide economic chaos by flooding the market with some 500 tons of gold a year to ease its own recession, a leading Middle East economist said Sunday. Marwan Iskandar, editor of the weekly An-Nahar Arab Report and Memo, also said in the current edition of the newsletter that the Soviets have been hit hard by their failure to reach a new agreement with Iran for gas imports.

"For the first time in 25 years," he aid, "the Russians are facing economic difficulties and slow growth, particularly in the energy sector."