Should U.S. Help Russia Arm Iran?

Should U.S. Help Russia Arm Iran?

CNSNews.com
Saturday, March 17, 2001

Russia can't sell weapons to Iran and expect to receive the more than $1 billion in U.S. aid it receives now, some U.S. lawmakers are warning.

About two dozen House members sent President Bush a letter Thursday urging him to suspend U.S. aid to Russia, now that cash-strapped Moscow has decided to resume weapons sales to Iran.

The group, headed by Rep. Joseph Hoeffel, D-Pa., reminded Bush that U.S. law authorizes an aid cutoff to governments that help terrorist states, a list that includes Iran. Wire services quote Hoeffel as saying that any boost to Iran's military would threaten the United States and its allies, including Israel.

"What I would like to see Bush do is to tell [Russia] in no uncertain terms that the more than $1 billion in aid is threatened by this, and we are prepared to stop the assistance unless we can come to some understanding," Hoeffel said.

"If they want help with debt relief, that's something we ought to look at. If they need more aid, that's something we ought to consider," he added.

This week, President Bush renewed the Clinton administration's emergency declaration that ruled out most trade with Iran.

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