Iranian judiciary chief calls for clampdown on women's
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Mobil calls for US-Iran rapprochement, criticizes sanctions policy
WASHINGTON, April 9 (AFP) - US oil giant Mobil on Friday urged reconciliation
between the United States and Iran and appealed for an easing in US sanctions
against investment in the Iranian oil industry.
"US-Iran rapprochement would go a long way to bolster regional
harmony," the company said in an advertising message that appeared
in the Washington Post.
It also called for approval by the US administration of grain sales
to Tehran, which it said would benefit US farmers and Iranian consumers
and would amount to a gesture in support of recent changes in Iran.
President Mohammad Khatami's election two years ago "signaled an
opportunity for a new openness with the West," according to Mobil.
"The forces of openness and democracy in Iran are continuing: witness
its recent local elections where moderates scored big gains."
Mobil, which stressed its eagerness to operate in the Middle East and
Asia, charged that US sanctions against foreign companies doing business
in Iran "are ineffective, harm innocent citizens ... cost American
companies sales and jobs and frustrate our allies."
Accusing Iran of fomenting terrorism, the US Congress in 1996 approved
legislation that authorizes sanctions against companies -- both US and
foreign -- that invest more than 20 million dollars in the Iranian oil
sector.
So far French, Canadian, Italian, Russian and Malaysian firms have flouted
the law and invested in the Iranian oil industry, drawing sharp criticism
from Washington but no actual sanctions.
The latest move to challenge the law came on Sunday when Elf Aquitaine
of France and Bow Valley of Canada announced a 300 million-dollar contract
to develop an oil deposit in the Gulf.
"Maintaining sanctions on Iran while foreign companies can invest
there with no restrictions not only puts US companies on the sidelines
but, more importantly, weakens America's foreign policy in the region,"
Mobil said its advertisement.
The company proposed several commercial steps that could improve ties
with Tehran, namely limited oil swaps, a waiver for US companies to use
Iranian equipment in the Caspian region and permission to negotiate deals
with Iran contingent on a removal of the sanctions.
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