elease 2M)t)/08/0
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4/p
000401020005-0
Iran Sign Deal to Settle Some Oaims
ellmn t0 Pay
05 Million; Larger Disputes Still on Table
The Washington Port
By Nora Boustany
Washington Post Staff Writer
sisled
p
U
n
nited
States
signed
an
agreement
over
the
weekend to settle 2,795 small U S
claims as well as a few U.S. govern-
ment claims against Tehran with a
lump sum payment of $105 million,
nS
Department
officials
an-
nounced yesterday.
'„Th
T
e
a
.greement
will
allow
U.S.
t "l
Iran
!an neg°tiators to concen-
tweenThi
t
ge flnanc,al disputes be-
tween the two nations.
said S
e
t,Department
specialist
said
that
the
agreement,
signed
botha
y
-h
n
The P
agUe ’
resolved
S
a
large number” of claims by
fionnn
na
,
tl0nals >
each
for
5*250,000
or
less,
and
“10
loans
St°at
es
h
t
e
n
g
f
h
Vernment °f the United
?ft
ta
f®.
t0 the government of Iran
for various assistance purposes.”
Among the major disputes yet to
be settled by the Iran-U.S. Claims
Tribunal
,n The Hague
is
Iran’s
u
,a™of m°r
f
than $10
billion for
seiSroff U'S
;
fniIitary g00ds and
services. Iran claims that the gov-
ernment of the late Shah Moham-
^fU'-UH-.nna ..
mad Reza Pahlavi paid that amount
the Iranian view of what they have
S
ry
ar apart'” said one senior
The tribunal, set up in 1981 un-
der an accord that freed 52 Amer-
icans held hostage at the U.S. Em-
bassy compound
in Tehran,
is the
sole forum
for
official contact
be-
fJ£
e
.n nc
countries since the rup-
m U.S.-Iranian ties.
P
1 he advantages to the U.S. are
fairly clear.
It resolves a very large
work°
n
|n°H
f
th
?'
u
Iaims
tribunal's
ork
load,
which
hopefully
will
t7on
efAr
SSlble t0 turn
its atten-
tion
to the remainder of
its cases
q!kklv
ni
S
h
e
itS
ri|W°rk mUCh
more
quickly.
Secondly,
it
assures
that
compensation
will
get
to
these
S ate
a
Do T
h
faster'”
a
se"ior
theLS"”"' °™cial »“
°‘
Those
claimants
include US
companies that had property seized
irT
,
not Pa id for goods and ser-
vices delivered
to Iran as well as
individuals who were forced to exit
Zho
rnfT
rgenCy
circumstances,
without
being
compensated
for
P
Thi" n°>
bfc
salary and wages.
The United States also has ten-
$400
ft
y
nn
a
f
gree
f,
t0
pay
Tehran
fmm’?
set
,
tle 108 sma» claims
from Iranians. Included
is a claim
for personal property left behind by
Iranian naval cadets who had to sus-
aftS/hfr? m the United States
Th ™hostages were seized.
1 he U.S. administration and chief
Iranian negotiator Ali Nobari insist
there is no connection between the
recent
releases
of two US
hos-
tagesm Beirut and the small claims
negotiations.
Iran
experts
said
JXTl
,h? “* Mtlement coulci
Atho
U P .Iranian
President
Ali
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani or oth-
ers pushing for further hostage re-
fWiht
aS 3
r
indication that a more
flexible
policy toward
Washington
has its rewards.
S
fu
d
?yV the commander
of
Gen
S
Anr
h
- Leb
r
an
h!l Army
mi,itia -
Gen.
Antoine
Lahd,
said
he
was
ready
to swap some
Shiite Leba-
nese detainees for 16 western hos-
tages and three Israeli servicemen.
ADVERTISEMENT
S
ix months agi
Forces of El S
priests, their h
urge you, on the ann
reflect on the huma
Salvador. We call on;
comprehensive peace
year-old conflict.
Today you enjoy a
i
Approved For Release 2000/08/08
: CIA-RDP96-00789R000401 020005-0