Russia Selling Submarines to Iran Despite U.S. Protest

With acting Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger glowering at his side, Russian Foreign Minister Andrei V. Kozyrev said Thursday that his economically pressed nation is selling submarines to Iran because it wants to improve its relationship with Tehran and it needs the money.

“There is a clear need to provide markets for the sale of our export products, including military sales, in order to help economic reform,” Kozyrev told reporters after a 90-minute meeting during which Eagleburger expressed American opposition to the deal.

“Many experts argue that these sales will probably enhance stability and also enhance (Russia’s) communications lines with Iran, which is important because it is our neighbor and it is important to cultivate relations with this country,” Kozyrev said.

The submarine sale, believed to involve two or three older-model diesel craft now reportedly heading to the region, would be the first to a Persian Gulf nation, officials said. U.S. officials said the deal is worth about $750 million.

The United States opposes the sale because it threatens to upset the military balance in the Gulf region and--more important--because of Washington’s continuing suspicions about the intentions of Iran’s militant Islamic regime.

Immediately after registering American complaints about the Russian arms sale, Eagleburger met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen, who spent most of the 40-minute session complaining about U.S. plans to sell F-16 warplanes to Taiwan. “It was pretty much a one-topic meeting,” a senior U.S. official said.

Qian said China is reassessing its entire relationship with the United States as a result of the F-16 deal, the official said, adding, “I don’t think either side is prepared to let this very important relationship go down over one issue.”

Kozyrev said Moscow wants to develop new markets for its weapons, going beyond the arms sales policy of the Soviet Union, which dealt primarily with ideologically compatible regimes.

Earlier, Eagleburger said the sale was “a matter of concern” to the United States. But, he conceded, “If the Russians want to sell submarines, I guess they can sell submarines.”

Experts say the diesel models cannot stay submerged as long, nor are they as swift as nuclear subs. But they run more quietly and, consequently, are more difficult to detect.

The United States and its Arab allies in the Gulf are particularly concerned that Iran may use military force to press its claim to Abu Musa, an island at the mouth of the Gulf whose ownership is under dispute.

But when Eagleburger was asked if Washington would encourage its allies to buy Russian weapons if Moscow would agree to forgo the sale to Iran, he replied, “no.” He added the United States “doesn’t think it is appropriate to increase sales of arms.”

On other topics, Eagleburger and Kozyrev said they agreed that the Serbian-dominated rump Yugoslav federation should be excluded from most international organizations, following the lead of the U.N. General Assembly, which expelled the regime Tuesday night as punishment for Serbian aggression in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

But they said the expulsions should be handled case by case, so that Serbia and Montenegro--all that’s left of the old Yugoslavia--could stay in some organizations, such as groups that promote transportation safety, where Belgrade’s presence serves a useful purpose.

Eagleburger also said that he and Kozyrev began work on drafting specific language of a treaty banning land-based multiple-warhead missiles within the next 10 years. President Bush and Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin agreed in principle last June to the ban, but they left it to the foreign ministers to work out the language.

At the time of the Bush-Yeltsin summit, then-Secretary of State James A. Baker III predicted that the treaty would be completed within weeks. There was no explanation for the delay, although American officials said there were no serious snags.

Eagleburger said he will meet Kozyrev again soon to continue the talks. “We are both anxious that this proceed as quickly as possible,” he said.