U.S. TO DECIDE ON POSSIBLE SANCTIONS AGAINST TOTAL SOON
USIA
USIS Washington File
16 January 1998
U.S. TO DECIDE ON POSSIBLE SANCTIONS AGAINST TOTAL SOON
(State's Rubin on Iran, Middle East, Iraq, Algeria, Cuba) (680)
By Rick Marshall
USIA Staff Writer
Washington -- State Department Spokesman Jamie Rubin said that a
decision on whether to apply sanctions against the French company
Total for signing a contract with Iran would be made "soon."
"Sanctions are a live option," Rubin said at a briefing at the Foreign
Press Center here January 16.
But Rubin was quick to say that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
"was encouraged by what she heard yesterday" from British Foreign
Minister Robin Cook. Britain currently presides over the European
Union. In a speech yesterday, Cook spoke of the need for the U.S. and
the EU to fashion a common approach to Iran.
Despite the reference to sanctions, Rubin seemed to downplay the
disagreement over the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, saying that the
differences between the U.S. and the EU are merely "tactical." What is
important, he added, is denying Iran the technology to pursue its
weapons of mass destruction, a view that Cook's remarks of yesterday
strongly supported.
Rubin noted that the United States would "continue to look at the
possibility of people-to-people dialogue" with Iran. Iranian President
Mohammad Khatami suggested such contacts in an interview recently.
Rubin was asked several questions about the Middle East as reporters
looked forward to the visits Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will make to Washington next
week.
President Clinton will be looking to discuss the Israeli plans to
redeploy more forces from the West Bank, Rubin said. Hopefully, the
plans will be of sufficient quality and quantity to accelerate the
move toward Permanent Status negotiations, he added.
As for the Palestinian Authority, Rubin said that in order to help get
the peace process back on track, the PA should "put together a
comprehensive approach to security ... a one hundred percent effort."
He noted that this is "an area where we have seen progress ... but
more needs to be done."
Rubin added that he suspected Clinton will tell Arafat that fighting
terrorism is as much in the Palestinian interest as anyone's, and that
Albright is "neither optimistic nor pessimistic" about the outcome of
the meetings with Netanyahu and Arafat.
Asked about Iraq, Rubin noted that even those nations which have had
some sympathy for Baghdad are "losing patience," and that Saddam
Hussein has "dug a much deeper hole for himself" by his latest refusal
to allow United Nations inspectors to carry out their work.
"It's quite clear that if the inspectors can't do their job, then the
sanctions can't be lifted," Rubin commented, adding that "we have not
ruled out the use of force."
Asked about Russian offers to replace the U.S. surveillance aircraft
UNSCOM uses, Rubin said the United States would welcome the addition
of additional equipment -- "the more technological expertise the
better." As for the makeup of the inspection teams, he said that "the
bottom line is that we are going to let the U.N. make its decision"
about how they should be composed.
Turning to Algeria, Rubin said: "We welcome the fact that the Algerian
government has welcomed the EU mission." The United States shares the
EU's concern about the bloodshed and called upon the Algerian
government to take further measures to protect its citizens.
Beyond the EU mission, Rubin conceded that it is "hard to know what
the next step will be." More facts are needed, and he encouraged the
media to visit the troubled country so that more might be known about
the causes of the conflict.
Rubin also commented on President Clinton's decision to waive part of
the Helms Burton Act. Without the waiver foreign companies could be
penalized for doing business in sectors of the Cuban economy which
were once held by U.S. citizens. The President's decision reflects the
fact that the Europeans have focused more attention on Cuba's human
rights problems in recent months, Rubin suggested. He added that he
hoped the Pope's upcoming visit to the island would help promote
positive change there.