Key Democrat Urges Strong Moves to Open Ties With Iran

In the most sweeping initiative toward Tehran by a U.S. official since Iran’s 1979 revolution, a ranking congressional Democrat called Wednesday for the White House and Congress to take far-reaching steps to end containment of Iran and open the way to restoring diplomatic ties.

By proposing strong steps to hasten the thaw in relations, Rep. Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.), former chairman and now senior Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, issued a direct challenge to his peers in Congress, which has largely usurped control of U.S.-Iran policy in recent years. His position also may give the White House more room to maneuver on the controversial issue.

“Confrontation . . . has benefited neither country. Why continue to follow a policy that for 20 years hasn’t worked?” Hamilton asked in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations. “Our policy is not isolating Iran. It’s isolating the United States.”

Among his bold proposals, Hamilton urged a compromise on Iran’s nuclear capability that would enable Tehran to develop reactors for civilian purposes--under international safeguards and potentially with U.S. help--much like a 1994 pact crafted with North Korea. He envisions U.S.-Iran talks, held under auspices of the United Nations or the International Atomic Energy Agency, that would help guard against Iran’s development of nuclear weapons.

The White House also should signal to Iran that official discussions on this and other issues would lead to easing of an executive order banning U.S. trade with Iran, Hamilton said, starting with allowing U.S. companies to talk to Tehran in preparation for the lifting of sanctions.

Diplomatic moves should include sending the first U.S. diplomat to Tehran since the 1979-81 takeover of the American Embassy there, to initiate and coordinate U.S.-Iranian exchange programs, Hamilton said.

He hopes to nudge congressional debate on the issue in a new direction and to provide much-needed support for a White House effort to forge a new relationship with Iran despite wariness on Capitol Hill.

“I felt it was an opportune time to do it--both due to developments in Iran and the U.S. reaction,” Hamilton said in an interview. “I want us to take advantage of it, and I know a lot of people in the administration are now thinking about Iran.”

Despite White House calls for a government-to-government dialogue, Hamilton said Washington has been unwilling to take steps to facilitate such communication. “We need to begin a policy of engagement,” he told the council.

To balance Iranian President Mohammad Khatami’s overture to the American people in a January interview on CNN, Hamilton called on President Clinton to address Iranians using Iranian radio and television or the Voice of America’s Persian-language service. He also urged the administration to ease the punitive visa process for Iranians and expedite settlement of outstanding financial claims dating to the 1979-81 hostage crisis.

Hamilton said he shares the administration’s concern about Iran’s support for militant groups, development of weapons of mass destruction and opposition to the Arab-Israeli peace process. But Iran’s recent progress in all three key areas should be acknowledged, he said. “Both Iran and the United States need to get beyond just saying no,” Hamilton said.

U.S. officials also should work to change the atmosphere of hostility, starting with an end to references to Iran as a “rogue state” or to Iranian “behavior,” which connotes “dogs and children,” he said. Hamilton added that officials should instead talk about “actions” and “policies.”

As a member of Congress with deep experience in foreign affairs, Hamilton took the first step with his speech Wednesday. He described his own vote in favor of the 1996 Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, which outlaws any foreign company doing business with Iran from doing business in the United States, as a “mistake” and called it “harmful to U.S. interests.”

Hamilton also called on Clinton to delay the critical first decision on whether to impose sanctions under the act against Russian, French and Malaysian companies that are to develop an Iranian gas field. “The statute does not dictate when the president must decide. He should not rush to impose sanctions,’ he said.

Hamilton’s remarks came as Iranian diplomats expressed outrage Wednesday that the White House, under pressure from Congress, has agreed to create a new Persian-language radio service, Radio Free Iran, to beam anti-government propaganda into Iran. Envoys said the move seriously endangered efforts initiated by Khatami to begin rapprochement with Washington.

Khatami’s 8-month-old government is already facing its most serious challenge from conservative hard-liners, who masterminded the April 4 arrest of Tehran’s reformist mayor. Gholamhossein Karbaschi, the president’s chief political ally and a potential future president, was released on bail Wednesday, but Iranian officials warn that the power struggle is far from over.

Karbaschi’s release on the eve of an important Shiite Muslim feast followed demonstrations Tuesday by 4,000 Tehran University students demanding his freedom. Dozens of baton-wielding police were called in to break up the protest. Several Cabinet ministers also criticized conservative judges for ordering Karbaschi’s arrest. The mayor, charged with graft, was released after a summit involving Khatami, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.