Tracking Number: 389833
Title: "Iran Sanctions Signal US Readiness to Lead." Assistant Secretary of State Robert Pelletreau asserted that the new US trade embargo against Iran demonstrates the country's
willingness to lead the fight against terrorism and nuclear proliferation. (950502)
Author: MARSHALL, RICK (USIA STAFF WRITER)
Date: 19950502
Text:
*NEA203
05/02/95 IRAN SANCTIONS SIGNAL U.S. READINESS TO LEAD (House Republicans voice doubt on allied cooperation) (630) By Rick Marshall USIA Staff Writer Washington -- Assistant Secretary of State Robert Pelletreau, appearing before the House subcommittee on international economic policy and trade May 2, said that President Clinton's decision to halt U.S. trade with Iran was taken in order to advance U.S. strategic interests and impose a "heavy price" on Iran for its support for terrorism and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.
"This action was chosen carefully to advance those strategic U.S. interests challenged by Iran's outlaw activities," Pelletreau said. "Our core concerns include: thwarting terrorism, advancing the Arab-Israeli peace process, fighting the spread of nuclear weapons, and maintaining security in the Persian Gulf."
"By sending a powerful political message to those who may have doubted the importance we attach to these interests, the President's recent decision will strengthen our hand as we again urge other nations to adopt our approach to Iran," he commented.
Both Republican and Democratic committee members expressed support for the President's willingness to move against Iran. Ranking subcommittee Democrat Sam Gejdensen (Connecticut) expressed the view that "The President has done the right thing. He has done the smart thing."
But whether the European and Asian nations who are Iran's major trading partners will cooperate with the U.S. embargo, or move to seize the business now denied U.S. firms, was the subject of much debate.
As subcommittee chairman Toby Roth (Republican, Wisconsin) said: "I am concerned that in firing this economic weapon, we won't hit Iran; we'll just hit ourselves in the foot. We have to ask ourselves: will this embargo actually hurt Iran, or will the real casualties be U.S. exporters and American workers?"
Pelletreau, who was repeatedly asked about the steps being taken to bring about allied cooperation, stated that Secretary of State Christopher "is sending personal messages to our diplomatic partners, calling on them to review their economic ties to Iran. He is also asking them not to permit their firms to fill the void left by American companies. In June, when the G-7 next meet in Halifax, the President will again urge G-7 leaders to adopt our approach."
The effectiveness of such an approach was met with some skepticism from subcommittee Republicans.
New York Republican Peter King, who believes the Administration approach does not go far enough, submitted a bill which would "bar any foreign company which does business with Iran from doing business with U.S. companies." This, he said, would force foreign companies to choose between the United States and Iran. Senator Alphonse D'Amato (Republican, New York) has submitted similar legislation.
A subsequent panel on the sanctions reflected the same characterization of Iran as a rogue state bent on supporting terrorism and developing an independent nuclear weapons capability.
The Carnegie Endowment's Geoffrey Kemp, while supporting the Administration's aims, predicted that the U.S. approach by itself "will be insufficient to persuade our allies and friends to tighten economic pressures on Iran.... The more conclusive the evidence that Iran is undertaking a serious nuclear weapons program in violation of its NPT (nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) commitments, the easier it will be to persuade the allies, especially the West Europeans and Japan, that business as usual with Tehran has no impact on moderating Iranian behavior in this most critical arena."
Despite sympathy with the Administration's goals in opposing Iran, Arthur Downey, vice president of Texas-based Baker Hughes who was speaking on behalf of the National Foreign Trade Council, expressed his organization's opposition to the sanctions. "We believe that approach is misguided, because it will be ineffective in achieving the goals, and it will also be costly to U.S. international competitiveness and ultimately to U.S. jobs," he stated.
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File Identification: 05/02/95, NEA203; 05/02/95, EUR204; 05/03/95, NAA302; 05/04/95, ERF401
Product Name: Wireless File
Product Code: WF
Languages: Arabic; Russian
Keywords: IRAN-US RELATIONS; EMBARGOES; TRADE; PELLETREAU, ROBERT; IRAN/Foreign Affairs
Thematic Codes: 1NE; 3TR
Target Areas: NE; EU
PDQ Text Link: 389833
USIA Notes: *95050204.GNE pelletreau 5/2 cong test.iran sanctions#rm gc kf+
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