WASHINGTON - Senate Banking Committee Chairman Alfonse D'Amato Thursday went before his Senate colleagues to ask the administration to punish the French company Total SA for signing a $2 billion pact to develop an Iranian natural gas field, and said he is concerned the administration won't enforce a U.S. law against such deals.

'Strict sanctions must be brought to bear on Total...I'm very concerned that the administration will shirk its responsibility in this matter,' D'Amato said in a Senate floor speech.

'It is an insult to this body that Total went ahead and put corporate profits ahead of the fight against terrorism,' D'Amato said in the speech on the Senate floor.

He accused companies such as Total as letting 'corporate profits' get in the way of more lofty goals, such as preventing international terrorism.

Russia May Take Hit for Iran Deal, Associated Press, October 9 

WASHINGTON - A House panel urged the Clinton administration Thursday to impose sanctions against Russian government agencies and firms found to be helping Iran with its missile-building program.

"Russia has already provided Iran with critical know-how and technological support. The question now facing us is whether these activities can be halted," said Rep. Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y., who heads the House International Relations Committee.

Gilman criticized the administration for preferring to use the "diplomatic route" in dealing with Moscow, instead of immediately imposing sanctions.

Last week, Russia's security service confirmed that Iran had attempted to obtain missile technology from Russian companies, but insisted that all such attempts have been thwarted.

Gulf Arabs Reject Iran Defense Offer, Reuter, October 9 

DUBAI - Gulf Arab defense chiefs have rejected an Iranian offer of joint war-games and said they would continue to depend on the West to guarantee their defense for the foreseeable future.

Major-General Faleh Abdallah al-Shatti, the Gulf Cooperation Council's top military official, said they would "continue to rely on the United States, Britain and France to guarantee their defense well into the foreseeable future."

At the same time he ruled out any prospect of joint exercises between the six Arab monarchies and the Islamic republic in the near future.

Asking the Impossible, Reuter, October 8 

KUWAIT - Kuwait said on Wednesday that Iran's overtures to the West might bear fruit if coupled with clear moves to abandon its alleged policy of acquiring nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction.

Information Minister Sheikh Saud Nasser al-Sabah said the issue "is of major concern to our (Western) allies and to us here in the region...

Iran's Missiles Concern U.S., United Press International, October 9

WASHINGTON - Israel and the United States say they must remain vigilant against the threat of Iranian missiles.

Israeli President Ezer Weizman visited the Pentagon today for talks with Defense Secretary William Cohen on the Middle East peace process and regional security.

Cohen said Iran's missile program is "greatly threatening to all in the region." He added the United States and its allies must "exercise as much influence and leverage as we can toward those countries that are supplying that technology."

Iran already has an array of missile capabilities, including surface- to-air launched weapons that could strike deep into several Middle East nations. U.S. military officials are concerned that Tehran may develop nuclear, chemical or biological warheads that, combined with Iran's large navy, would increase its threat to both the Gulf states and the Mideast.

Dutch Say Sailors Still Being Held in Iran, Reuter, October 9 

THE HAGUE - The Dutch Foreign Ministry on Thursday denied Iranian reports that the crew of two Dutch boats held in Iran since September 8 had been released.

"All our people are still on board the boats... and negotiations are still ongoing... We contacted Tehran... at about nine (0700 GMT) and that was the situation," a foreign ministry spokesman said.

He said 34 crew members, seven of them Dutch, were still trapped on the two vessels.

Back to Brief on Iran