[FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The Great

[AP]

Bush Renews Ban on Iran Oil Contracts
Thu Mar 11, 6:32 PM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040311/ap_on_re_us/us_iran_1

EAST MEADOW, N.Y. - President Bush (news - web sites) on Thursday renewed measures that bar U.S. citizens or companies from entering into oil development contracts in Iran.

He extended for one more year the prohibition first put in place in 1995 by President Clinton (news - web sites). It blocks Americans from financing, supervising or managing oil development projects in Iran.

The United States insists that Iran has a nuclear arms program; Iran asserts its nuclear programs are geared only toward generating power.


Iran has promised to cooperate with inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency in an effort to dispel suspicions raised by revelations last year that traces of uranium enriched to weapons grade had been found in Iran.


New discoveries by agency inspectors of undeclared items and programs have cast doubt on Iran's assertions it has no more nuclear secrets. Inspectors found that Iran had plans to enrich uranium and had secretly conducted other tests with possible weapons applications.


Bush cited Iran's "support for international terrorism, efforts to undermine the Middle East peace process, and acquisition of weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them" in issuing notice of the extension.


"Because the actions and policies of the government of Iran continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, the national emergency declared on March 15, 1995, must continue in effect beyond March 15, 2004," Bush said.