Iran: Current Developments and U.S. Policy Page: 3 of 18
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1B93033
Iran: Current Developments and U.S. Policy
SUMMARY
Even before Iran's tacit cooperation with
post-September 11 U.S. efforts to defeat
Afghanistan's Taliban regime, signs of mod-
eration in Iran had stimulated the United
States to try to engage Iran in official talks.
Iran, still split between conservatives and
reformers loyal to President Mohammad
Khatemi did not accept. Recent reports of
Iran's harboring of Al Qaeda fighters and the
intercepted January 2002 shipment of Iranian
arms allegedly to the Palestinian Authority
have reversed the warming trend. Iran was
grouped with North Korea and Iraq as part of
the "axis of evil" identified in President
Bush's January 29, 2002 State of the Union
message. The United States said subsequently
it supports reform-minded Iranians who want
democracy, an apparent shift from the stance
of attempting to engage Khatemi's govern-
ment.
President Bush has identified Iran's
efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction
and delivery means, coupled with its support
of terrorist groups, as key U.S. concerns.
Iran's ballistic missile program has made
major strides over the past few years, with the
help of several foreign suppliers, and the
strides in its civilian nuclear power program
could further a nuclear weapons effort.
Iran has opposed the U.S.-led Middle
East peace process since its inception in Octo-
ber 1991. It continues to provide material
support to Hizballah in Lebanon and to Pales-
tinian groups that oppose the Arab-Israeli
peace process, such as Hamas and Palestinian
Islamic Jihad. All Iranian factions have
publicly supported Palestinian violence
against Israel since September 2000.Congressional Research Service
Iran's human rights practices, particularly
its treatment of the Baha'i and the Jewish
communities, are also a major concern. The
Bush Administration has identified Iran's
modernization of its conventional forces as a
potential threat to U.S. interests in the Persian
Gulf, but others argue that the buildup has
been minor and that Iran still is relatively
poorly equipped.
Although the Bush Administration says
it is still willing to hold a dialogue with Iran,
the focus of current U.S. policy appears to be
a return to the containment policy that
prevailed during the early part of the Clinton
Administration. During the first term of the
Clinton Administration, as part of a policy of
"dual containment" of Iran and Iraq, President
Clinton imposed a ban on U.S. trade and
investment in Iran in 1995, and a 1996 law
imposed sanctions on foreign investment in
Iran's energy sector (Iran-Libya Sanctions Act,
ILSA).
In keeping with a 1997 policy shift to-
ward engagement, the Clinton Administration
and Congress later eased sanctions to allow
U.S. exports to Iran of food and medical
supplies and importation from Iran of goods
such as carpets and caviar. The United States
has consistently worked with its allies to
prevent arms and advanced technology sales
to Iran and to limit Iran's influence over
regional energy flows. U.S. purchases of
Iranian crude oil and U.S. company invest-
ments in Iran remain barred. ILSA was re-
newed for another 5 years on August 3, 2001
(H.R. 1954, P.L. 107-24).
+ The Library of Congress C10-16-02
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Katzman, Kenneth. Iran: Current Developments and U.S. Policy, report, October 16, 2002; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc806737/m1/3/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.