U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing

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QUESTION: Is the administration and State Department concerned, or worried I should say, that money that the administration has apparently decided to give money to Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America for Persian language broadcasting to Iran? Will this undermine the tentative steps the US and Iran have taken towards improving relations?

MR. RUBIN: With regard to reports about this subject, let me provide a few clarifications. The purpose of these broadcasts is not to beam anti-government propaganda into Iran; rather, this new service would provide more detailed factual reporting on political, social and foreign policy issues affecting Iran. Improvement in the breadth and diversity of information in the public media will add to the political debate, which we note is already taking place in Iran. In other words, whatever happens with this radio broadcasting, we think it will enrich what is already a lively political debate in Iran.

With respect to what we support and don't support in this area, let me be very clear. We support increased Farsi language broadcasting, and our view is that the best way to do this is to have it done by the Voice of America and not by a surrogate broadcasting. So we have discussed this issue with Congress, we will continue to discuss it with Congress, and we think the best course is to have the Voice of America broadcast on all issues around the world so that the people of Iran are better informed.

Our general view is that information is a good thing, and the more information people have, the better the information. We certainly should not let anyone misinterpret this as an attempt to undermine the Iranian government; rather, our view is that there ought to be more Voice of America broadcasts. The Congress had a different view. We are now engaged in a discussion with them about what the best approach to this is, but our strong belief is that the better course is to spend this money on Voice of America broadcasts, not surrogate broadcasting. But we will continue to work with Congress on this.

But no one should misinterpret this as an attempt to undermine the Iranian government or as in any way diluting the very clear position we have that we are encouraged by the developments in Iran, that we believe that the best way to overcome the differences between our two countries is to have an authorized and acknowledged dialogue, and we believe that those differences can be overcome in such a dialogue.

QUESTION: Jamie, can you address then the facts in the report today? Is this now a done deal? There will be this Radio Free Iran that is going to receive $900 million, and the Voice of America will also receive some funding for similar broadcasting?

MR. RUBIN: Nothing has been decided here. This is a subject that is still being discussed. The name that you see bandied about I wouldn't expect to see ever used.

Let me just say that we are continuing to discuss this with the Congress. We never officially requested the checks to base this service in Prague, and that is one of the factors. The other factor is where it might be located, how much money might end up being available. You know, with each day passing, the FY 98 money becomes harder and harder to spend as FY 98 runs out. So we are continuing to discuss this, but I don't think it's a done deal yet.

QUESTION: It would be incorrect then to report that this is a done deal, as it was reported today?

MR. RUBIN: Well, you know, I've been learning more about this during the course of the morning. I mean, it's certainly true that the Congress feels very strongly about the way its money that it's appropriate should be spent. It's also true that the broadcasting board of governors is an independent entity. So I can't speak for the broadcasting board of governors and tell you what they will or won't do, whether as far as they are concerned it's a done deal. They'll have to talk about that.

But as far as we're concerned, in terms of our role in this, which is to provide guidance to the broadcasting board of governors, we want to continue to discuss this so that the objective of increased Farsi language broadcasting that we support is not lost in proposals that we think are not the right way to go.

QUESTION: Can you confirm whether the Czech government said that it had concern about terrorism if the service is based out of -

MR. RUBIN: Well, you will have to ask the Czech government for its views. Other than to say that they informally, when we discussed this with them, they said they would give it consideration, I can't comment.

QUESTION: Do you have concerns about whether this news service, you know, if it was based somewhere in Europe or whatever, that it could be a target for Iranian terrorism?

MR. RUBIN: I don't think there are any places that are off limits to determined people trying to make a political point.

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MR. RUBIN: Well, I'm not familiar with the particular letter, but let me say this. Our position on the Blackhawks has not changed. We believe that providing a huge portion of our budget to this particular exercise will undercut the other 9, 10 or 11 things we need to do with other countries. So our view on whether this is the wisest use of our resources has not changed.

QUESTION: But also, General Serrano said in that letter that it has been -

MR. RUBIN: I haven't seen the letter, but continue, please.

QUESTION: Right now the whole operation is in danger and it's working just half way of the regular eradication program and, you know, the fumigations. But what he is saying actually is not about the Hueys that have been grounded already but the problem that it goes to Colombia because they don't have the Blackhawks, which is like the best way they can actually get to those.

MR. RUBIN: You're asking me a question about our policy towards the Blackhawks, basically. It hasn't changed. We don't believe this is a wise use of these resources. We have the same policy on the Blackhawks.

QUESTION: So, are requests like that from General Serrano -

MR. RUBIN: We wish we had unlimited resources provided by Congress to provide all the different people fighting the war on drugs, the money that we need to fight the war on drugs. But so long as we have limited resources, we need to decide how to best deploy them, and we believe that is not the best use of those limited resources.

QUESTION: On Colombia, any update on the hostages, the American hostages?

MR. RUBIN: I don't have anything new for you on that.

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