Secretary of State Denounces Conoco's Contract with Iran

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Mar 10, 1995

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) _ A major American oil company's contract with Iran to develop a Persian Gulf oil field came under severe attack Thursday from Secretary of State Warren Christopher. He accused Conoco Inc. of assisting an "outlaw nation" that supports terrorism.

"We are working to contain Iran," Christopher said, accusing the Tehran government of having "an evil hand" everywhere in the Middle East.

The contract by Conoco, worth an estimated $1 billion, is the first energy agreement involving Iran and the United States since the Carter administration severed relations with Tehran in 1980.

Christopher was in the Middle East trying to promote the expansion of Palestinian self-rule on the West Bank and to reopen negotiations between Israel and Syria.

Iran cast a long shadow over Christopher's shuttle mission. The State Department for years has accused Iran of supporting terrorists bent on sidetracking the peace process with attacks on Israelis, of a major role in the Mideast drug trade and of abusing its Kurdish and Shiite citizens.

Israel, meanwhile, explains its unwillingness to submit to international nuclear inspection by pointing to potential attack from such adversaries as Iran, Iraq and Libya. The no-inspection stand has strained relations with Egypt and provoked formation of an Arab bloc that threatens to oppose the Clinton administration's drive to extend the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty indefinitely.

"We feel that Iran is an outlaw nation," Christopher said in a joint news conference with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. "They have projected terror throughout this region and they have sought to undermine the peace process. Wherever you look, you find the evil hand of Iran in this region."

The contract Conoco signed with Iran after three years of negotiation would permit the Houston company to buy oil for resale and to develop oil and gas sources in Iran.

The company says the deal complies with U.S. restrictions because it was made by its affiliate, Conoco Iran N.V., and none of the oil and natural gas would be brought to the United States.

The Clinton administration, pursuing what is called a "dual containment" policy, is trying with some difficulty to squeeze the economies of Iran and Iraq. Russia is helping Iran construct a nuclear reactor complex near the gulf while France has upgraded its diplomatic presence in Iraq and was poised with Russia and China to ease U.N. sanctions against Baghdad until U.S. Ambassador Madeleine Albright lined up a majority of Security Council members in opposition.

Earlier in the week, Mike McCurry, the White House spokesman, said the Conoco contract was "not helpful" to the U.S. policy. Christopher's remarks went far beyond that criticism.

On another front, Christopher said the Clinton administration would try to assist Israel and Syria come to terms. But, he said, "it is not my task to try to provide new ideas for the parties."

Rabin, meanwhile, was optimistic the two sides would resume negotiations that broke down in December. "I believe there is no reason why we shouldn't continue these negotiations," he said.

Before the breakdown, the military chiefs of staff of Israel and Syria were negotiating security issues in Washington, Rabin said.

"Don't judge us by a stopwatch," he said, suggesting reaching an agreement would take a long time. "It's not a sport competition, it's a peace process," he said.

Christopher is due in Damascus on Sunday to see Syrian President Hafez Assad.

Earlier Thursday, in Cairo, he backed Egypt's call for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction from the Middle East. But he said the time was not right to make that demand of Israel.

In the midst of a lingering dispute, Christopher said after meeting for nearly two hours with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that adherence to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty should be "universal."

But Christopher said until there was comprehensive peace in the Middle East the best approach was "step by step." He also told reporters the Clinton administration understood Egypt's concern.

Mubarak, without abandoning his demand that Israel open its facilities to international inspection, sought to smooth over the differences. He said Egypt was not entering an era of "cold peace" with Israel and that the two countries were cooperating in the search for peace in the area.