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U.S. to ease its sanctions against Iran Move acknowledges reform; oil ban stays Relevancy: 75; ( USA Today ) Barbara Slavin; 03-14-2000 Size: 3K |
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| WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration plans to announce Friday that
it is easing the ban on Iranian imports and will
permit Americans to buy Iranian carpets, caviar and pistachio nuts for
the first time in 13 years, officials said Monday. The decision, which will be announced by a senior State Department
official and perhaps Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, would be the
most conciliatory U.S. gesture toward a country Washington has tried to
isolate. Officials say the action is meant to encourage reformers who swept
Iranian elections last month but who have been reluctant to accept U.S.
overtures for an official dialogue. It is expected to be unveiled at meeting in Washington sponsored by
the American-Iranian Council, a Princeton, N.J.-based group. Iran'
s ambassador to the United Nations has been invited. In a separate gesture, the World Bank is likely to resume loans to Iran
for the first time in seven years. Officials said Monday
that they expect approval in April for a sewage project and a health
care project. Iranian officials, responding to earlier reports that the United
States was considering an easing of trade
sanctions, have welcomed it as the first concrete step toward ending a
unilateral U.S. embargo on Iranian imports
imposed in 1987. It is unclear whether it will be sufficient to end a
20-year break in official ties since Iran seized
U.S. hostages during its 1979 Islamic revolution. A year ago, the Clinton administration ended a ban on the sale of
food and medicine to Iran. But President Clinton
on Monday renewed a 1995 ban on other U.S. exports and U.S.
participation in Iran's oil sector. The products to be included in Friday's announcement are Iran's
second- largest source of hard-currency earnings. U.S. officials believe
potential sales will not boost Iran's ability to
develop nuclear weapons or support groups opposed to Arab-Israeli peace. Kenneth Katzman, senior Middle East analyst for the Congressional
Research Service, questions whether the trade embargo
should be eased before
official talks begin. ''I'm nervous that the Iranians will pocket this as a concession and
not come to the bargaining table,'' he said.
Barbara Slavin, U.S. to ease its sanctions against Iran Move acknowledges reform; oil ban stays. , USA Today, 03-14-2000, pp 01A. |
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