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U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing

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QUESTION: To follow David's question of yesterday, Iranian resistance officials this morning reiterated that they believe that a link between terrorists in Iran and this terrorism in Algeria existed, and if the government were changed in Iran, there wouldn't be this problem. Can you respond to that statement?

MR. RUBIN: Yes, I can make a few brief points. Obviously, this is a tricky one. Let me say this -- that we have noted in the past that the Algerian Government has accused Iran and Sudan of supporting Algerian extremists. The Iranian Government, however, has condemned the massacres and said it wanted to see those responsible exposed internationally. The question of our assessment of what Iranian relationship might exist with these extremist groups would be a matter I'm not in a position to get into from this podium.

QUESTION: But your comment, then, about Iranian sources saying that there is a link, and there is a direct connection --

MR. RUBIN: I referred to Algerian Government statements that there's a link.

QUESTION: Okay. You can't comment on the Iranian National Council?

MR. RUBIN: I'm pointing to two types of statements -- I haven't seen that specific one; we haven't cited that - that the Algerian Government has accused Iran and Sudan, on the one hand. On the other hand, the Iranian Government has condemned the massacres, and said that it wanted to see those responsible exposed internationally.

QUESTION: Have you seen any evidence in the last month that Iran has ceased its development of weapons of mass destruction or its support for international terrorism?

MR. RUBIN: Again, I am going to withhold a little bit on any dramatic sweeping assessments of those kind until the day unfolds. The President is going to be watching carefully what President Khatami has to say. Secretary Albright will be watching carefully what President Khatami has to say. Based on what he says, we will find an appropriate way to respond.

But I can say the following - that we have concerns in those three areas, and we still have. We've had them for a long time, and we still have them. But trying to give you a grade is not something I'm prepared to do from this podium, especially at this time of day, given what we're expecting to see - what the President has called an historic message to the American people.

QUESTION: I know what you mean, and you probably don't mean what I'm going to suggest you seem to be saying. But you're watching words instead of deeds.

MR. RUBIN: No, on the contrary.

QUESTION: There must have been enough deeds or lack of deeds for you to come to some --

MR. RUBIN: I'm trying to use the delay to avoid saying what I wouldn't say yesterday or tomorrow.

QUESTION: Okay, gotcha.

(Laughter.)

QUESTION: Wouldn't say tomorrow, either?

MR. RUBIN: We're not in a position each day to give a grade on each three of these issues.

QUESTION: Another subject --

MR. RUBIN: Because some of the - basis for those judgments are things we are not in a position to talk about on a daily basis.

QUESTION: On this subject, would you care at all to talk about what kinds of signals you are looking for; what kinds of tea leaves might be meaningful to you in a Khatami message?

MR. RUBIN: Again, we're looking for -- substantively, our policy has been based on changes in behavior in those three areas, two of which Sid mentioned.

As far as what would be sufficient to justify a dialogue, I went into great detail yesterday, and I'm happy to do that again. A dialogue between the United States and Iran must be an authorized dialogue; it must be one that is openly acknowledged; and it must be one in which we are able to raise our areas of concern - concern about weapons of mass destruction, concern about terrorism, and concern about opposition to the Middle East peace process. Those three issues lend themselves to criteria. We will be in a position to judge what is significant based on actions, not words. But words often are the precursor to actions; so it will be a combination.

QUESTION: Cuba.

MR. RUBIN: Any more on Iran?

QUESTION: Iran - (inaudible).

MR. RUBIN: Under Secretary Pickering is on his way back. He will be reporting to the Secretary upon his return; but he's in the plane now.

QUESTION: Do you have anything today, Jamie, on the status of what the US is holding in terms of Iranian assets?

MR. RUBIN: Yes. There is not US holdings of Iranian funds provided for undelivered military equipment, as has been suggested.

During the 1980s, Iran filed claims before the Iran-US Claims Tribunal in The Hague, including a claim seeking billions of dollars, primarily for alleged overcharges and nondeliveries of military equipment under the foreign military sales program that we had with Iran prior to the revolution, and for allegedly unjustified charges billed to Iran for terminating that program. Those claims are under active arbitration at the Tribunal. Decisions on them will be issued by that tribunal.

The question of whether we owe Iran funds based on those claims is something to be decided by the Tribunal. We vigorously contest these claims. I can say that the Iranian claims in this area, as well as the area of property the Shah and his family allegedly have in the United States, reach the billions of dollars in terms of their claims. But it's not about funds; it's more about moneys owed because of changes in the military sales program, or alleged property the Shah and his family owned. I can't comment specifically on these things because they are under a legal process, but we are vigorously contesting the claims.

I can tell you that, as a result of the revolution, many US individuals and businesses had claims against Iran, and filed those claims at the Tribunal. Since its creation in 1981, the Tribunal has disposed of about 4,000 cases and awarded $2.5 billion to US claimants. US and Iranian lawyers have discussed possible settlement of pending cases on a regular basis since 1986 at The Hague. We do not regard the discussion of claims pending in The Hague as a political matter.

For example, former legal advisor Conrad Harper conducted discussions resulting in the settlement of the Iran Air 655 case that Iran had brought to the ICJ, and of certain bank claims against the United States. These are confidential discussions until a settlement is concluded, and legal and technical exchanges do occur regularly in The Hague.

QUESTION: Most of the claims by individuals have been paid, haven't they? Do you have any --

MR. RUBIN: I don't know whether it's most. I just indicated that 4,000 cases have been adjudicated, with the result of awards over roughly $2.5 billion.

QUESTION: You don't know the overall numbers?

MR. RUBIN: I don't know how many remaining claims there are, no, but I could try to get you that and put our lawyers back to work.

QUESTION: The United States is not holding any frozen Iranian assets?

MR. RUBIN: Not in the way that it has been publicly portrayed. It is, rather, a dispute about what funds they are owed as a result of changes in policies rather than moneys. Because in 1981, almost $10 billion was transferred as part of the Algiers Accord in 1981.

QUESTION: So - but you say there are no frozen assets. Is there any money being held in escrow or in any other kind of account by the US Government?

MR. RUBIN: Well, the account that yields funds for the individual claimants was part of the original accords. A certain amount of money was put into this account, which accrues interest and has generated funds of $2.5 billion towards the award of claims. How much money is left in the account, I do not know.

QUESTION: Jamie, can you just say simply, did the Iranians purchase - pay money for military supplies in the United States that they never received?

MR. RUBIN: We are disputing the claims they have made, and beyond that I'm not prepared to comment.

QUESTION: One more on Iran. This morning the Iranian resistance announced, here in Washington, that there were - there's at least one prototype of a 1400-kilometer-ranged missile that has been produced, that is operational. They plan to produce 14 or 15 more of them this year. This is an over-one-ton payload, Jamie. This was done with the help of the Chinese and the North Koreans, according to the Iranians, well-informed Iranians. Do you have any comment to this threat to Israel and Saudi?

MR. RUBIN: It won't surprise you if I say that we do take reports of Iranian pursuit of long-range or medium-range missiles very seriously. But I'm not in a position to comment on the specifics, because of the intelligence nature of the information.

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