The Law School became an diplomatic battleground last night as four senior Soviet and American officials clashed over nuclear arms policy in a debate which will be televised in three countries next week.

United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union Henry F. Cooper and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs Thomas W. Simons, Jr. defended the American side of the proposal, "Is it Possible to Make the Transition from Mutual Assured Destruction to Continuing Assured Survival."

In the Soviet corner were Soviet Ambassador to the United States Viktor Karpov and Deputy Chief Minister Evgeny Kutovoy.

The hour long debate was sponsored by the Irish Times newspaper and will be aired in Ireland, Australia, and Great Britain, a spokesmen for the newspaper said.

All four officials agreed that assured survival in the nuclear age was possible, but diverged sharply over the means to attain lasting peace. The Soviet representatives charged that the Reagan administration'sStrategic Arms Defense Initiative (SDI) wouldhamper progress towards nuclear cooperation.

"No state should use scientific andtechnological resources for developing new arms ofArmegeddon," Kutovoy said. "No state shouldtransfer the arms race to space."

Ambassador Cooper countered by declaring hissupport for SDI as a defensive mechanism toprevent nuclear attack. He added that the SovietUnion engaged in similar research and that the twonations should cooperate to strengthen defensivetechnology.

On the issue of strategic arms reduction, theAmerican officials accused the Soviet Union ofavoiding actual reductions while making promisesthat it has not fulfilled.

"A future world of greatly reduced nuclearweapons depends on the [Soviet Union's]restraint," Ambassador Cooper said. "The proposition isambitious, but not fantasy."

Soviet representative Kutovoy agreed thatpolitical acts should be combined with practicaldeeds, but said that decisions were in themselvesthe key to effective arms reduction.

The Soviet delegation attributed much of thearms reduction problem to the false image of theSoviet people created by the American media andurged the American government to help eradicateold myths regarding the Soviet Union.

"When an attitude of hostility is cultivated itaffects diplomatic relations," Karpov said. "It isimportant to educate the American people to see usas partners, and not enemies."

American representative Simons said thatnuclear arms negotiations must be linked tobroader tensions stemming from Soviet involvementin "third countries" and human rights violations.The Soviet officials, however, claimed thatnuclear arms negotiations would be conductedbetter an a matter of highest priority and thatother issues should not doom efforts to reducenuclear arsenals.

The Irish Times chose Harvard as the site ofthe debate due to its role as a respectedindependent academic institution which would morelikely attract the Soviet officials, according toChristina Murphy, a spokesman for the Irish Times