U.S. MIGHT TAKE TEHRAN OFF OF DRUG LIST

IRAN -- U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in a new move
aimed at improving ties with Tehran, has recommended that President
Clinton remove Iran from the U.S. list of major illicit drug-producing
countries, a senior U.S. official said Monday in Washington.

The official said a new U.S. survey has concluded Iran has eradicated
much of the country's poppy cultivation and thus it "no longer meets
the statutory justification" for inclusion on the list.

The official said that it was hoped Iran would see the decision as
evidence that the United States makes judgments on the basis of facts
and "they are not based on some preordained desire to isolate Iran."

Officials said the U.S. survey did not involve U.S. experts actually
visiting Iran, which has not had formal diplomatic ties with
Washington since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry