By Laurie Lande
Dow Jones Business News
April 9, 1997

Ex-U.S. State Official Endorses Wider Dialogue With Iran

WASHINGTON -- In his first speech as a private citizen, former Assistant Secretary of State Robert H. Pelletreau Tuesday called for the U.S. to make more effort towards a dialogue with Iran.

Pelletreau's comments are significant because until March 31, he held a top-ranking Middle East policy position at the State Department and his views should hold sway with the Clinton administration.

Speaking to the Petroleum Finance Corp. conference here, Pelletreau said there's more hope for an eventual reconciliation with Iran then there is with neighboring Iraq.

'In our policy towards Iran, prospects for change may be greater. Unlike Iraq, there is no consensus on how to deal with Iran,' Pelletreau said.

He noted that most of the infrequent communication that has taken place in recent years between Washington and Tehran has had a 'hard edge' and he suggested the tone of invitations for dialogue be changed.

'This door should be opened wider; the U.S. should not shrink from a full dialogue with Iran,' he said.

He suggested that the U.S. make clear that it recognizes the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and isn't seeking to overthrow the government of Iran. He also recommended that Washington 'broaden existing informal contacts with Iran.' He noted that such informal contacts were helpful in advancing U.S.-Soviet relations during the Cold War. At the same time, Pelletreau called on Iran to renounce its opposition to the Arab-Israeli peace process, and make clear its eventual desire for full-fledged relations with the U.S.

In response to a question, Pelletreau said Washington has been ready for a serious dialogue with Iran - had it received a satisfactory response >from Iran. Officially, the U.S. has always maintained it would speak to Iran if the communication was on an official level and if Iran agreed to certain conditions. The Iranians never took up Washington on this offer, but at the same time, the U.S. should 'open the door a little wider,' Pelletreau said.

He warned, however, that if Iran were found to have played a role in last June's fatal bombing of al-Khobar Towers in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, in which 19 U.S. servicemen were killed, would reverse any prospect for improved relations between the two nations.

Separately, Pelletreau said he expects the Clinton administration to support the renewal of United Nations Resolution 986 to be renewed in June and beyond, barring any serious transgressions by Iraq. This resolution lays out the terms for the U.N.-Iraq oil-for-food sale, which is now in its second 90-day period.

Under terms of the U.N.-Iraq agreement signed last May, Iraq is permitted to sell $1 billion of crude oil every 90 days for an initial six-month period. Proceeds of the oil sale are paying for food and other humanitarian aid for the Iraqi people, who have endured economic hardship under U.N. sanctions imposed in 1990 when Iraq invaded Kuwait. The rest of the proceeds are earmarked for U.N. monitoring operations in Iraq and war reparations to Kuwait.

Pelletreau noted that the U.S. strongly continues to believe that Iraq's leader Saddam Hussein needs to be kept 'in a box.'

'Iraq is hardly closer to joining the community of nations than it was the day after the Gulf War ended,' Pelletreau said. 'Were sanctions to be removed on Iraq or if the U.S. were to falter, in its military commitments to the Gulf, the State Department believes the Iraqi Army would be back on the border with Kuwait.'

In closing, Pelletreau said that he expects the current U.S. policies towards Iraq to continue. 'The U.S. will continue containment as long as it takes,' Pelletreau said.