Senate Panel on Iran May Talk to Foreign Leaders

The head of the Senate committee investigating the Iran- contra scandal today said his panel may have to question foreign officials, while independent counsel Lawrence Walsh was reported moving to have a grand jury get into the case soon.

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) said his select committee may send investigators to Israel, Switzerland, Brunei and possibly Iran as part of its quest to get a complete picture of the Reagan Administration’s arms sales to Iran and financial dealings involving the Nicaraguan rebels.

Inouye said that any such travel would be closely coordinated with the State Department so that normal diplomatic channels would not be circumvented.

“Our committee will not deal directly with the State of Israel, for example. We would have to go through the State Department,” he said. “And if we are dealing with knowledgeable officials of Iran, we would have to deal with the State Department because that’s government-to-government.”

Meanwhile, a source close to the investigation by independent counsel Lawrence Walsh said the former federal judge plans to move quickly so that a grand jury is in position to begin hearing evidence by Feb. 1.

Walsh, given wide latitude by a panel of federal judges to delve into broad aspects of U.S. arms sales and private and public support for the Nicaraguan contra rebels, said last month he would use a grand jury--a standard procedure in such investigations.

Also today, Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams declared that only force will prod the Nicaraguan government into negotiations.

Appearing on Worldnet, a U.S. Information Agency telecast, Abrams reaffirmed the Administration’s intention to ask Congress for additional military aid to the contras. He said there is no longer any question on Capitol Hill that the Sandinistas are a “menace” to their neighbors. “That debate is over,” Abrams said.