18 May 1998
CLINTON ANNOUNCES WAIVER OF US IRAN-LIBYA SANCTIONS ACT
(Urges Ireland to vote yes in May 22 referendum) (950) By Wendy S. Ross USIA White House Correspondent London -- President Clinton has waived the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act as part of an overall strategy "to deter Iran from acquiring weapons of mass destruction and promoting terrorism." Clinton announced his decision at a May 18 joint news conference with Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair and European Union (EU) President Jacques Santer, following their summit meeting. He said he was able to waive the sanctions because the 15 EU nations "have agreed to enhance their cooperation" with the United States "with regard to Iran." Russia, he noted, also "has taken important steps to strengthen controls over the export of sensitive technology, notably, but not exclusively, to Iran." The US Congress enacted the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act in 1996 in response to the support those two countries have given to international terrorists. It requires the President to impose sanctions against foreign companies that invest $40 million during any one year period for development of Iranian or Libyan petroleum resources. The President may waive imposition of the sanctions if he determines that it would be in the national interest of the United States. EU countries have strongly objected to this legislation. A US official said Clinton consulted with Congress before he acted and believes there will be congressional support for his action. The EU member states, Clinton said, "will step up efforts to prevent the transfer of technology that could be used to develop weapons of destruction, they have agreed to work toward the ratification of all 11 counter-terrorism conventions, and we agreed to cooperate in the development of Caspian energy resources." The EU nations and the United States "share an interest in combating terrorism and limiting the spread of weapons of mass destruction," Clinton said, adding "we are, I hope, all more sensitive in light of the recent events in South Asia," a reference to India's May 11 and May 13 nuclear bomb tests. Clinton also announced a US-EU agreement on "a path-breaking common approach to deter investment in illegally expropriated property around the world including, but not limited to, Cuba." The United States and the EU member states, he said, "will deny all forms of commercial assistance for these transactions -- including loans, grants, subsidies, fiscal advantages, guarantees, political risk insurance. "This understanding furthers the goals of protecting property rights in Cuba and worldwide, advances the interests of US claimants and protects US investors, and does so far more effectively than the United States could have done alone," the President said, and furthers "the objectives of the European Union in getting away from the unilateral sanctions regime." On other matters, Clinton said the EU and the United States "agreed to work together with Russia to strengthen nuclear safety" especially with regard to nuclear waste removal and storage in northwest Russia. In addition, he said, "We will work together to encourage Ukraine to embark on bold economic reform and to speed the closure of the Chernobyl reactors." Clinton announced that the United States and the European Union were honoring "50 exceptional individuals from Europe's new democracies for their work in helping freedom take strong root across the continent." The 50 are the first recipients of the EU-US Democracy and Civil Society Awards. The President suggested that the participants in the upcoming May 22 vote on the proposed Northern Ireland political settlement should be "thinking about the future; thinking about their children. And I think the risk of doing this is so much smaller than the risk of letting it blow apart that I believe, in the end, a lot of the undecided voters will go in and vote their hopes instead of their fears.... "I believe that if the voters who actually weigh the merits of the substance and think rationally about what the alternatives are if this fails and if it succeeds will overwhelming vote yes," Clinton said. The President suggested that the Middle East peace talks are at a stage where "anything I say publicly to characterize the position taken by Mr. Netanyahu or anybody else in the back-and-forth would almost certainly reduce the chances of our being able to get an agreement which would move the parties to final status and reduce dramatically the tensions in the region." He said the parties involved "have been working hard" in "honest and earnest good faith... If we get something we can say, believe me, I'd be the first one to the microphone. I would be very happy." Clinton said the United States believes there should be an "honorable settlement" to the Greek-Turkish conflict over Cyprus because it and other Aegean issues "are keeping Turkey and Greece from being genuine allies, and being genuinely available to spend their time, their energy and their resources promoting peace and development for their own people and being enormous stabilizing forces in their respective regions of Europe." Regarding the crisis in Indonesia, Clinton said the United States wants the country "to come back together, not come apart. We want the military to continue to exercise maximum restraint so there will be minimum loss of life and injury." The President acknowledged that Indonesia is "headed for some tough times" because tough economic decisions have to be made. "But the absence of a sense of political dialogue and ... involvement obviously has contributed to the difficulties there," he said. He said the United States hopes for "the restoration of order without violence and the genuine opening of a political dialogue that gives all parties in the country a feeling that they are a part of it."
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