WASHINGTON (UPI) -- A senior State Department official on Tuesday
ruled out any softening of U.S. attitudes toward Iraq but said relations
with Iran's Islamic regime could improve substantially if that
government disassociates itself from international terrorism.
	``Despite the name-calling and the harsh rhetoric from across the
Gulf, despite all this, we do not take a position of permanent hostility
towards the Islamic Republic of Iran,'' David Mack, deputy assistant
secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, said.
	The primary U.S. objection is ``Iran's international behaviour''
which includes ``extending support of violence'' to disrupt the Arab
Israeli peace process and its rapid build-up of dangerous weapons.
	Mack said ``Iran could contribute to regional stability and peace but
first it is to end the behaviour which threatens this area.''
	Mack spoke at the U.S.-GCC business conference aimed at promoting
Gulf-American trade. He said the ``Middle East will be an item very high
on the agenda of the U.S. administration.''
	The importance of the Gulf is underlined by Secretary of State Warren
Christoper's visit last year to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait before anywhere
else in the world, Mack said. He added that the U.S. has no long-term
plan to station troops in the Gulf.
	Mack also insisted that the Clinton administration will continue to
pressure Iraq to ``comply with all the U.N. Security resolutions.''
	``As long as Iraq is ruled by Saddam Hussein we do not expect
compliance,'' Mack told delegates.
