15 January 1998
US, BRITAIN LOOK TO BRIDGE DIFFERENCES ON IRAN, IRAQ
(Foreign Minister Cook, NSC Deputy Steinberg exchange views) (520) By Rick Marshall USIA Staff Writer Washington -- Britain's foreign minister, Robin Cook and James Steinberg, President Clinton's deputy national security advisor, speaking at separate sessions of a conference hosted by the European Institute January 15, expressed hope that the U.S. and the European Union could begin working more closely together on Iraq and Iran now that Britain has assumed the EU presidency. "The gravest and most immediate challenge" facing the United States and the Europe Union is to find a common approach to Iran and Iraq, Steinberg said. The U.S. and the EU need to devise clear rules together to confront states which support terrorism and seek weapons of mass destruction, he added. Steinberg said that while Iranian President Khatami's interview last week "offers promise," the United States will base its policy on actions, rather than words. For his part, Cook said: "We share many common aims on Iran, but we have failed to agree on a common prescription. I would like to start putting this right during the period of the UK Presidency." He, too, welcomed Khatami's recent remarks and said that "there are the first signs of glasnost appearing in Iran, and we must do all we can to encourage it. We must respond to the dangers posed by Iran as well as the opportunities. But," he added in a reference to the U.S. embargo of Iran, "isolating Iran is not the right response." At the same time, Cook pledged that the European Union would "use every tool and every agency at our disposal to obstruct Iran's unacceptable ambitions. We will put in place the tightest net we can to stop Iran from getting the weapons it wants. ... I believe it is a strategy on which Europe and the U.S. can agree and work together." Asked about this, Steinberg said that the United States is encouraged at Europe's decision to strengthen its efforts to prevent technology from reaching Iran where it can be used for weapons of mass destruction. Britain's six-month presidency of the EU should be a good opportunity to put this into effect, he added. As for Iraq, Cook noted that Britain "stands four-square with (the United States) in your determination to take whatever action is necessary to ensure the (Security) Council's decisions are respected." If Saddam Hussein "wants relief from sanctions, the remedy lies in his own hands: full compliance with Security Council resolutions, including as a first step unrestricted access for UNSCOM inspectors." Another country mentioned by both men was Turkey. Steinberg expressed hope that the EU would work with Ankara on a strategy to enable the country to enter the EU. This would include a policy of respecting human rights, he noted. "An integrated Turkey is a step for stability in a very dangerous neighborhood," he said. The EU recognizes "the need to involve Turkey in the process of European enlargement," Cook said. "Ensuring that Turkey finds the right place in this process is one of the key challenges of our Presidency."
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
