U.S. Near OK on Payments to Iran Jet Victims

The Reagan Administration gave strong indications Sunday that it will decide this week to compensate the families of the 290 civilians killed when a U.S. warship shot down an Iranian airliner a week ago. But it continued to balk at apologizing for the tragic error.

Undersecretary of State Michael H. Armacost said the United States is “considering . . . ex gracia (act of grace) payments” to the victims, both Iranian and non-Iranians, through the Red Cross or Muslim Red Crescent societies rather than through the Iranian government.

‘Humanitarian Payment’

The compensation would be made as a “humanitarian payment,” he added, “rather than as a matter of legal obligation.” An Administration decision on the issue is expected early this week, he said.

At the White House, an official who asked not to be named, when asked about the payments, said: “The President is leaning in that direction.”

Vernon A. Walters, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, preparing to defend the U.S. action in the world forum, said he did not intend to apologize for the mistake. “The President has expressed great regret at the loss of life,” he said, implying that “regret” is as far as the United States is ready to go.

Walters also indicated that he would seek to deflect Iranian efforts to condemn the United States for the incident by emphasizing Iran’s refusal to accept U.N. Resolution 598. That resolution, adopted last year, calls for a cease-fire in the nearly eight-year-old Iran-Iraq War. “We have always maintained that the way to stop these incidents is to stop the war,” he said.

Withdrawal Demanded

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammed Mahallati, insisted that the only way to prevent the repetition of such a tragedy is the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the gulf. He contended that the rate of attacks on oil tankers there has doubled since U.S. warships began escorting American-flagged vessels.

But Armacost said that of the 69 convoys escorted by U.S. ships, only the first one was attacked.

Walters spoke on the ABC program “This Week with David Brinkley.” Armacost and Mahallati appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Two senior members of Congress, also on the ABC program, supported compensation payments, but a third, Rep. Les Aspin (D-Wis.), said on CBS that he is “very skeptical of the whole idea of paying compensation,” particularly before the possible culpability of Iran is examined in detail.

Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said compensation should be offered in the interest of “justice, fairness and equity.” Rep. Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.), majority leader of the House, approved of the payments--if they are not made through the Iranian government--as a token of “the compassionate concern of the American people.”

Possible Military Signal

Aspin, who is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said that “one of the possible explanations for the shooting down of the plane is that it was carrying a military transponder.” A transponder is a device that radios signals identifying a plane as a military or a civilian aircraft.

“If that is true,” Aspin added, “then the whole issue of who was at fault here” is affected.

Armacost said that there are relatively few cases of ex gracia payments having been made by any country.