Peres Warns of Iran’s Fundamentalism, Remains Silent on Tehran Arms Trade

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told leading members of Parliament here Monday that “no responsible Israeli” wants to see the victory of Iranian-style Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle East.

But he refused to confirm or deny his country’s reported role in President Reagan’s controversial arms shipments to Tehran.

Speaking before a closed-door session of the Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee of the Knesset (Parliament), Peres also said that his country “does not delude itself that it can change the course of the (Persian) Gulf War” between Iran and Iraq, according to an account of his remarks by Foreign Ministry aides.

Peres gave national security as his reason for refusing to comment on published reports that Israel acted as an intermediary in setting up secret U.S.-Iranian contacts and as a conduit in shipping American arms to Iran. He said he would give a more detailed report only to a subcommittee on intelligence.

While expressing concern over the government’s accountability to Parliament, committee chairman Abba Eban supported Peres’ offer to report to the subcommittee.

“There’s a difference between reporting to nine people and reporting to 26,” he said. “So far, nothing has leaked from our subcommittee, whereas just about everything that is said in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee reaches the media.”

Israeli officials have consistently refused to comment publicly on the Iranian arms affair for fear of winding up in the middle between the Reagan Administration and an angry U.S. Congress, which has accused the Administration of overstepping its authority.

“We as a state have nothing to gain from saying anything,” one senior official told The Times last weekend.

The Jerusalem Post quoted unidentified Israeli defense officials as expressing concern that Congress could act against Israel for its role, the Associated Press reported.

Congressional wrath could disrupt such Israeli projects as financing and building the Lavi jet fighter; gaining permission to sell Kfir jets with U.S.-built components to Honduras, and obtaining the same status as North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries in bidding for defense contracts, the Post quoted the officials as saying.

Morris Draper, U.S. consul in Jerusalem, sounded surprised, however, when asked if the controversy has affected U.S.-Israeli relations.

The relationship “is very good,” Draper said in remarks broadcast on Israel army radio. “I don’t expect it to be damaged.”

Peres’ remarks to the Knesset committee Monday appeared to be intended to counter two recurring themes in reports about Israel’s involvement in the affair.

One theme is that Israel has shipped far more arms to Iran than authorized under the covert Reagan Administration program. The Times reported over the weekend that in addition to Israel’s assistance in the U.S. arms sales effort, it has independently maintained a relatively continuous supply of weaponry to Iran’s revolutionary regime since 1979.

By stressing Israel’s alleged inability to affect the outcome of the Iran-Iraq War, Peres apparently wanted to minimize the importance of his country’s arms sales to Iran without going into details about their history or extent.

His reference to the dangers of an Iranian fundamentalist victory were seen here as a reflecting a policy debate within the Israeli Establishment over the significance of the Iran-Iraq War.

Some officials have justified Israel’s arms dealings with Iran on grounds that Iraq, which has participated in three wars against Israel, is the greater threat--particularly if it were to emerge victorious from the present conflict, with its current 40 battle-hardened divisions and 600 combat aircraft.

Also, proponents argue, the arms sales are aimed at strengthening what are described as more moderate elements in the Iranian leadership that may take over after the death of Khomeini, who is 86 and reportedly ailing.

Other officials, however, say that while it may have made sense to support Iran at the beginning of the war, when it appeared that Iraq would win it easily, recent Iranian advances in the conflict have made that belief no longer true. Meanwhile, the spread of Iranian-style Islamic fundamentalism, which is implacably anti-Zionist, constitutes a growing and, some say, more immediate threat.

Yossi Sarid, a leftist member of the Knesset, said after Monday’s committee meeting with Peres that if reports of Israel’s military support for Iran are even partially true, “it’s one of the worst errors of the government of Israel.”

Eban, a senior member of Peres’ Labor Alignment, concurred: “I am against selling arms to Iran,” he said. “There is no worse enemy of the Jewish nation today than Khomeini. If all of Islam becomes like Khomeini, it would become very difficult for us to live here.”

Referring to Jews still living in Iran, many of whom encounter persecution from the government and are trying to flee, Knesset member Pinchas Goldstein of the rightist Likud Bloc took a different view. “If we can save Jews by selling arms, then I support it,” he said.