IRAN

By J.F.O. McAllister

Before the CLINTONS and BLAIRS relaxed over champagne and a convivial dinner in London last week, the Boomer Buddies huddled about Iran. Enraged by its terrorism, its pursuit of nuclear weapons and its attempts to spoil Middle East peace, Clinton long ago imposed a trade embargo on Iran and has regularly denounced the regime. But with the new reform-minded cleric President, MOHAMMED KHATAMI, has Clinton softened on the regime? Actually, he told Blair, he was "very skeptical" that Khatami's election would bring real change to Tehran's foreign policy, and Blair agreed. But Clinton wants to make Iran's leaders aware that he's open to dialogue as long as it includes the issues that concern the U.S., so at his London press conference Clinton pointedly praised Iranians as "a very great people" and wished that "estrangements can be bridged." "It was his idea," says a senior official. "He thought that was the proper way to use the election results for our own purposes, rather than a sterile recapitulation of our existing position."

--By J.F.O. McAllister