Zagreb's First Comment on Arms Affair
WASHINGTON (AP) — Although Croatia allowed Iran to use its territory in the past for smuggling arms to the Bosnian army, it would block future attempts, Croatia’s premier said Thursday. “We don’t think the future of Bosnia-Herzegovina should be tied to fundamentalist countries like Iran,” Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa said in his government’s first official Croatian comment on the affair.Matesa was in Washington for the funeral of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, killed with 34 other people in a plane crash in Croatia last week. The Croatian announced plans for a monument at the crash site near Dubrovnik. Last week, U.S. officials revealed that in 1993, when Bosnia was in danger of being overrun by Serb rebel forces, the Clinton administration agreed not to interfere with a Croatian plan to let Tehran violate a U.N. embargo by shipping weapons across Croatia to Bosnia.
No Comment on U.S. Role in Arms Assist
Matesa did not comment on a U.S. role in the arms smuggling but indicated that Iranian arms were essential to Bosnia’s survival in the early phase of the war. “At a time when you are fighting, you should not block any source of (arms) supply,” he said. When asked whether his government would refuse new requests by Iran to ship weapons to Bosnia, Matesa replied: “Absolutely.”President Clinton says the United States did nothing improper in allowing Iran’s arms shipments to proceed. During part of the period, the administration was under congressional instructions not to enforce the embargo. Republicans including Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole have denounced Clinton for misleading Congress. Dole, Clinton’s probable opponent in November’s election, says Congress will hold hearings about the shipments.
The Bosnian war ended last November with a U.S.-sponsored peace agreement. Under the accord, the warring sides were to evict all foreign fighters. Washington says several dozen Iranians and other volunteers from Islamic nations remain in Bosnia. Bosnia’s Muslim-led government denies it.
U.S. Worries Over Iranian Foothold
A senior State Department official said the administration worries that Iran will use reconstruction aid in Bosnia to gain a permanent political and military foothold. The United States had warned the Bosnians not to accept the aid. James H. Holmes, the department’s coordinator for help to eastern Europe, said “our concerns would be considerably less” if Iran contributes “toward genuine economic recovery.”“But (Tehran) shouldn’t anticipate that they could be successful in masking other undertakings under a cover of humanitarian or economic assistance,” Holmes told reporters.
Clinton: U.S. Did Nothing Wrong in Iran Arms Aid
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