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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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