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Clinton extends Iranian oil sanctions

WASHINGTON: President Bill Clinton on Monday extended an order banning oil development contracts with Iran, saying Iran continues to support "international terrorism" and undermine Middle East peace talks.

Clinton said in a statement he was extending the ban he first signed in March 1995 "because the actions and policies of the government of Iran continue to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States."

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, asked what the extension said about the U.S. attitude toward post-election Iran, said the United States remained interested in dialogue with Iran and was watching events there closely.

"We are following it (Iran) very closely and looking at what this all signifies, in terms of where U.S.-Iranian relations might lead. We continue to be very interested in what's going on," she told a news conference on Monday.

"We are interested in having a government-to-government dialogue on issues of concern to us -- the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction, support for terrorism and lack of support for the Middle East peace process," Albright added.

State Department spokesman James Rubin said last week that, after the reformist victory in last month's elections in Iran the United States was looking at ways to promote dialogue. He declined to say what gestures Washington was considering.

Rubin was responding to a Los Angeles Times which said the United States was considering scrapping trade sanctions on Iran's three main non-energy exports -- caviar, carpets and pistachio nuts -- in a bid to improve relations with Tehran.

The paper quoted unnamed U.S. officials as saying the move was one of several possible gestures of goodwill in the light of progress toward economic and political reform in Iran.

A State Department official said Monday that Rubin's remarks on dialogue still stood, despite the extension of the ban of investment in the Iranian oil industry.

The United States has been seeking better relations with Iran for years but the Iran, unlike most countries, has repeatedly rebuffed U.S. overtures. The elections offer the best chance in years for a breakthrough.

Clinton, who must decide annually whether to extend the 1995 order or have it automatically lapse, said the factors that led him to sign the order had not been resolved.

The 1995 measure prohibits U.S. citizens from entering into contracts for the financing of or the overall management or supervision of the development of petroleum resources in Iran.

Washington banned non-oil imports from Iran after the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979.

Iran deplores extension

TEHRAN: Iran said on Tuesday it deplored a move by U.S. President Bill Clinton to extend an order banning oil development contracts with the Islamic republic.

"This decision is in contradiction with recent (conciliatory) statements from U.S. officials and shows Washington's lack of sincerity," the official IRNA news agency quoted foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi as saying. -Reuters