DATE=2/14/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CLINTON-IRAN (L)
NUMBER=2-259151
BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST
DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: President Clinton has reiterated his hopes for
improved U-S relations with Iran, while expressing
concern about the fate of 13 Iranian Jews accused of
spying for Israel. V-O-A's David Gollust reports from
the White House.
TEXT: Mr. Clinton says having a constructive U-S
partnership with Iran is one of the best things that
could be done for the long-term peace and health of
the Middle East. And he says he is still hopeful such
a relationship can materialize despite seemingly-
fruitless of overtures to Tehran in the recent past.
The president made the comments in an unusual dialogue
with internet callers to the C-N-N broadcast network's
website, C-N-N Dot-Com, carried live on television.
He told a questioner from Iran that he shared the
young man's hopes for a "healthy and mutually
respectful" relationship between the two countries,
while saying the issue rests largely in the hands of
the Iranian people and the election process there.
Acknowledging the split among Iran's top leaders over
restoring a relationship broken off after the Islamic
revolution in 1979, Mr. Clinton said he did not want
to jeopardize the position of moderates in the Tehran
leadership:
/// CLINTON ACTUALITY ///
I think it's important that the genuine
reformers there not be, in effect, weakened
because of their willingness to at least talk to
us. Because I think that the United States
should always remain open to a constructive
dialogue of people of goodwill. And I think that
the estrangement between these two countries is
not a good thing. I think it would be better if
we could have a relationship.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Clinton said he was troubled by, and has devoted
considerable attention to, the case of 13 Iranian Jews
jailed and facing possible death sentences for spying
for Israel. He said he has been assured by Israeli
authorities that the accused were not spies, and said
the case is among the obstacles to better relations
with Tehran:
/// CLINTON ACT TWO ///
It is an irritant. The American Jewish community
is very, very concerned about it. And we've done
a lot of work on it. And I'm hopeful that
justice will be done there and that no one will
be punished for being a spy who isn't. That's
not a good thing to do, and that obviously is
one of the sticking points.
/// END ACT ///
The Clinton administration has sent a number of
conciliatory signals to Iran since the election of the
relatively-moderate Muslim cleric Mohamed Khatemi as
president in 1997.
The administration says it wants an authoritative
dialogue with Iran on all issues of concern to both
parties, including Iran's alleged support for
terrorism, strident opposition to Israeli-Arab peace-
making and efforts to acquire weapons of mass
destruction.
While he did not elaborate, Mr. Clinton said in his
C-N-N remarks that the United States has not in his
words "been entirely blameless" in its past dealings
with Iran. (Signed)
NEB/DAG/JO
14-Feb-2000 16:23 PM EDT (14-Feb-2000 2123 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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