TEHRAN - Iran's Defense Minister Admiral Ali Shamkhani said on Tuesday the dispatch of the U.S. aircraft carrier Nimitz to the Gulf was a reaction to Iran's political and economic achievements.

The United States on Friday ordered the Nimitz to skip a port call at Singapore and hurry to the Gulf. A Pentagon official said it was reasonable to assume a connection with Iranian air raids on rebel bases in Iraq of the Mujahideen Khalq, the main Iranian opposition group.

U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen said on Monday he had never mentioned Iran in his order and the warning was not directed at Iran.

Shamkhani told a news conference that a forthcoming Islamic summit meeting in Tehran in December and Iran's $2 billion deal with French oil giant Total SA (TOTF.PA) were "major factors in America's move."

"Also, during the past three months, the officials of the Persian Gulf countries have implied their dissatisfaction with the presence of foreign forces in the region," Shamkhani said….

Shamkhani dismissed a U.S. charge that Iranian aircraft violated the Western-imposed "no-fly zone" over southern Iraq when they raided the rebel bases last week.

"The U.N. and America have two different 'no-fly zones', and we have not violated the U.N. zone," he said….

Dealing With Iran: The U.S. And Europe Still Can't Agree, Business Week Online, October 6 

When France's Total signed a $2 billion deal with Iran to develop Iranian gas fields, the Clinton Administration wasn't miffed just because the accord seemed to flout American sanctions on the mullahs' energy industry. The Clintonites also were upset at the timing: The U.S. and the European Union are negotiating a package of measures designed to present a coordinated front to Iran -- for the first time in years….

Both sides want to avert sanctions over the Total contract. But to do that, the Administration needs to extract promises of tough action from the EU, and that means progress in the negotiations. The question now is whether the Total deal will accelerate the talks -- or cripple them….

The Deal Between France And Iran, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Editorial, October 7

In the matter of the $2 billion gas deal between a French firm, Total, and Iran, much has been made of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's "they don't get it" statement, made to a Council on Foreign Relations meeting in New York. Perhaps, indeed, the French don't get it, but does Washington?

As Albright outlined Iran's sins to the council, they include sponsorship of terrorism, efforts to undermine the Middle East peace process and attempts to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

Few people in the world, and fewer still in Europe, would disagree with the need to bring about changes in Iranian behavior. The Europeans, however, tend to prefer engagement over isolation, a preference that should not be dismissed as a convenient fig leaf covering a venal drive to make a franc. Total has full backing not just of the French government but of the European Union…

That's what stirred Albright to complain that "our friends and allies don't get it . . . they seem to think that there is some way we can deal with Iran without supporting" Iranian-sponsored terrorism and other obnoxious behavior….

U.S. Lawmaker Wants to Stop Weapons Sales to Iran, Associated Press, October 7

WASHINGTON - The Clinton administration should press China to stop selling any weapons to Iran before declaring the Chinese are cooperating on preventing the spread of nuclear arms, the chairman of a House committee said Tuesday.

President Clinton hopes to certify at his Oct. 29 summit with Chinese President Jiang Zemin that China has stopped helping other nations, particularly Iran and Pakistan, develop nuclear weapons. Such a declaration would allow the U.S. nuclear industry to sell multibillion-dollar reactors to China….

"Our members need to know that China is engaging in responsible nonproliferation behavior across the board, including all weapons of mass destruction and conventional weapons," said Rep. Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y., chairman of the House International Relations Committee.

Gilman suggested the U.S. government use the promise of certification on the nuclear issue as leverage to obtain pledges from China to stop exporting missile components and other weapons to Iran, which the State Department declares is a terrorist state….

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