Iran Taken Off List of Drug-Pariah States

Iran is no longer a significant producer of opium poppies nor a major transit point for U.S.-bound illicit drugs, President Clinton said Monday in announcing Iran’s removal from a list of drug-problem countries.

While countries on the list can face U.S. economic penalties, Iran will not officially benefit from Clinton’s decision.

Iran, which is listed by the State Department as a major sponsor of international terrorism, is subject to comprehensive sanctions and receives no economic or military aid from the United States.

Tehran’s removal from the list appears to reflect an energetic Iranian campaign to rid the country of opium poppy, the raw material for heroin. A 1992-93 aerial survey of Iran uncovered thousands of acres of opium poppy. But a survey this year discovered no such cultivation, officials said.

The White House compiles a list of drug-problem nations each year.

There were 30 countries on the list, but the removal of Iran, and Malaysia, reduced the number this year to 28. In Malaysia’s case, the Clinton administration concluded that the amount of drugs passing through that country that make their way to the U.S. is negligible.

Clinton has been attempting to reach out to Iran, hoping to establish a government-to-government dialogue for the first time in two decades. But Iran has shown little interest in such a dialogue.

Last week, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman (R-N.Y.), both key players on the drug issue, expressed concern to Clinton after published reports said Iran was about to be dropped from the list.

The 28 countries or areas found by the administration to be “major illicit drug-transit or drug-producing countries”: Afghanistan, Aruba, the Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Taiwan, Thailand, Venezuela and Vietnam.