1- U.S. State Dept. Welcomes EU Statement On Iran Policy 2- E.U. Moves To Mend Iran Ties, Ignores U.S. Appeals 3- U.S. Sees Mixed Results In E.U.'s Actions Toward Iran 4- Iran Legislators Call For Suspension Of Talks With E.U. 5- E.U. Keeps Iran Ties Despite U.S., Rights Groups' Appeals 6- E.U. Keeps Iran Ties -2: Ex-Pat Iranians Protest Move Dow Jones Newswires April 29, 1997 1- U.S. State Dept. Welcomes EU Statement On Iran Policy WASHINGTON -- The U.S. State Department said Tuesday it welcomes the declaration by the European Union foreign ministers that there's no basis for the continuation of the critical dialogue between the EU and Iran. 'The United States welcomes the declaration by the European Union foreign ministers,' department spokesman Nicholas Burns said at the daily briefing. 'We also welcome the new measures that the European Union has decided on to stimulate a more positive Iranian approach to the international community, and we very much look forward to continuing our close dialogue with the European Union on Iran,' he said. The EU ministers decided Tuesday to impose mild diplomatic sanctions - the suspension of official bilateral ministerial visits to Iran; the continuation of an arms boycott on Iran, and the decision to not give visas to Iranians with intelligence and security functions. The E.U. ministers also agreed Tuesday that member countries could send their ambassadors back to Tehran if they chose. Burns acknowledged that Washington would have preferred that the EU adopt economic sanctions. 'Ideally, we would have preferred if the Europeans had included the threat of additional economic sanctions in case Iranian behavior does not improve,' he added. ...'We very much look forward to working with the European Union to make sure that we all have a realistic policy towards Iran and that Iran gets this message.' By Laurie Lande 2- E.U. Moves To Mend Iran Ties, Ignores U.S. Appeals LUXEMBOURG (AP)--Ignoring U.S. appeals to isolate Iran, the 15 European Union nations agreed Tuesday to send their envoys back to Tehran and again appealed to Iranian leaders to refrain from terrorism. They also issued diplomatic sanctions but resisted calls from the Clinton administration, human rights groups and Iranian dissidents to abandon their 'critical dialogue' with Tehran. That dialogue was suspended April 11, one day after a German court linked Tehran's leaders to the 1992 assassination of four Iranian dissidents in a Berlin restaurant. At a meeting, the EU foreign ministers continued that suspension until further notice. They declined to abandon it arguing that would only lead to less influence over Tehran and jeopardize economic relations. 'We have a critical dialogue. The United States has no dialogue,' said Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van Mierlo whose country now holds the EU presidency. 'The fact we don't do what the United States is no proof that we do not have a strong position,' he said. The EU's 'critical dialogue' was launched in 1992 to preserve Europe's economic interests while trying to pressure Iran into improving its human rights record. Van Mierlo said the EU governments backed Germany and France, two countries that worry a severing of ties would recklessly damage their lucrative economic interests. 'You cannot reproach us for following our economic interests,' said German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel. Two-way Iran-Germany trade was U.S.$1.2 billion last year and Iran's debt to Germany totals almost U.S.$2.9 billion, Kinkel told reporters. Defending the bid for some relations with Iran, French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette said, 'You get more by dialogue than by silence.' He said the EU action showed both a denouncement of Iran as well as a desire 'to maintain state-to-state relations.' De Charette had sought to put a six-month limit on sanctions and the suspension of the critical dialogue, but failed to win sufficient backing, officials said. The U.S. considers Iran a terrorist state. U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright wrote the EU governments over the weekend urging them to isolate Tehran politically and economically. The EU ministers issued a statement saying relations with Iran can only become normal 'if the Iranian authorities respect the norms of international law and refrain from acts of terrorism, including against Iranian citizens living abroad and cooperate in preventing such acts.' They announced mild sanctions: a halt to bilateral ministerial visits, a ban on visas for 'Iranians with intelligence and security functions,' expelling 'Iranian intelligence personnel' from the EU and maintaining a ban on arms sales. The timing of the ambassadors' return was left up to national governments. They were expected back at their posts in one, maybe two weeks. Their return does not imply a resumption of the EU's 'critical dialogue' which takes place in high-level political meetings in EU capitals. Outside Tuesday's meeting, a crowd of several thousand Iranian protesters from Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany chanted anti-Iranian government slogans. The protest was organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran whose chairman, Mohammad Mohaddessin, called the EU decision 'a good first step but not enough. We certainly regret there is not a single mention of economic sanctions.' Ahead of their meeting, the foreign ministers also received a letter from Human Rights Watch saying they should 'link improved relations a with Iran to that country's compliance with international human rights laws,' at home and abroad. In Tehran Tuesday, the parliament's foreign policy committee urged an end to Iran's dialogue with Europe unless it was 'constructive and...accompanied by goodwill.' Referring to the April 10 German court ruling, the panel also said the EU 'must not allow sacred offices like the judiciary to be abused for political aims.' 3- U.S. Sees Mixed Results In E.U.'s Actions Toward Iran WASHINGTON -- The U.S. said Tuesday the European Union had stopped its 'critical dialogue' with Iran and had decided to bar high-level visits to Tehran and to keep out Iranian intelligence officials. While trade will be continued, despite U.S. calls for an economic boycott, 'it is not going to be business as usual any longer,' State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said. He welcomed the steps taken by the E.U. foreign ministers in Luxembourg, although he said threatening Iran with economic sanctions would have been better. 'The critical dialogue is dead, and we very much appreciate the fact that the European Union member countries have acted decisively today to send a clear message to Iran,' Burns said. 'We very much welcome this announcement.' The positive gloss the administration put on the Luxembourg results differed from some accounts there. According to The Associated Press account, the 15 foreign ministers had resisted calls from the administration, human rights groups and Iranian dissidents to abandon their policy of 'critical dialogue' with Tehran. The policy is based on the notion that lucrative trade with Iran gives Germany, France and the other Europeans a better chance to engage Iranian leaders in discussion of their policies. Among the decisions made in Luxembourg was to send ambassadors back to Tehran. They had been withdrawn after a German court ruled April 10 that Iranian leaders ordered the 1992 killings of four Iranian dissidents in a Berlin restaurant. Iran denied the charges. 'We have a critical dialogue. The United States has no dialogue,' said Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van Mierlo, whose country now holds the E.U. presidency. The U.S. considers Iran a terrorist state, and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright wrote the E.U. governments over the weekend, urging them to isolate Tehran politically and economically. But Van Mierlo said the E.U. governments backed Germany and France, who felt that severing ties with Iran would recklessly damage their lucrative trade. 4- Iran Legislators Call For Suspension Of Talks With E.U. TEHRAN (AP)--Iranian legislators called on their government Tuesday to suspend all talks with the European Union, Tehran radio reported. The call came as E.U. foreign ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, said they would not resume their 'critical dialogue' with Tehran. The E.U., however, agreed to return its ambassadors to Tehran and said it would maintain political and economic ties with Iran. The Iranian parliament's foreign policy committee called on the government to 'end any kind of dialogue with Europe.' It said in its non-binding proposal that dialogue with the E.U. was meaningless unless it was 'constructive and was accompanied by goodwill,' the radio reported. The committee statement must be approved by parliament before it becomes binding. The committee also criticized E.U. nations for allowing the Iraq-based Mujahedeen Khalq opposition group to maintain offices in European capitals and demanded the extradition of opposition members to Tehran. 5- E.U. Keeps Iran Ties Despite U.S., Rights Groups' Appeals LUXEMBOURG -- European Union foreign ministers Tuesday debated relations with Iran but won't sever all political and economic ties despite appeals from human rights groups and the U.S. to get tough with Tehran. The 15 E.U. nations were unwilling to jettison their policy of 'critical dialogue' that seeks to safeguard their economic interests while trying to pressure Iran into improving its human rights record. In Tehran, the prospect that the E.U. won't sever all ties was welcomed by the state-run radio network Monday. Particularly fearful of jeopardizing lucrative trade are France and Germany, which oppose freezing all relations with Tehran. They have stuck to that view despite an April 10 German court ruling that found Iran's leaders ordered the September 17, 1992, killings of Iranian dissidents in a Berlin restaurant. That ruling prompted the U.S., which considers Iran a terrorist state, to urge the Europeans to isolate the country. However, the E.U governments only withdrew their ambassadors from Tehran, suspending for now their 'critical dialogue.' 6- E.U. Keeps Iran Ties -2: Ex-Pat Iranians Protest Move France and Germany are Iran's biggest European commercial partners. Two-way trade with Germany totaled $1.8 billion last year. Outside the meeting, a few hundred Iranian protesters stood in a drizzling rain chanting anti-Iranian government slogans and bearing signs urging the Europeans to take a tougher stance. 'To tolerate terrorism is to encourage it,' read one sign in French. E.U. officials said the foreign ministers considered returning their envoys, imposing further curbs on the movement of Iranian diplomats in the EU, maintaining an arms embargo and ending loan guarantees for investments in Iran. This falls far short of what the U.S. would like the Europeans to do. Before traveling to Luxembourg, the foreign ministers received a letter from Human Rights Watch saying they should 'link improved relations a with Iran to that country's compliance with international human rights laws.' 'Scores of dissident Iranian political figures and writers have been murdered abroad since the consolidation of the Islamic Republic in the early 1980s,' the letter said.