Expand All Collapse All Extent 76 folders, approximately 6,828 pages Summary This collection consists of records concerning United States relations with Iran in 1993 and in 1995 through 1996. Due to serious differences over human rights and support for terrorist organizations, already strained relations between the U.S. and Iran remained poor throughout the 1990s. In 1993, President Clinton announced a strategy of the dual containment of Iraq and Iran. During the mid-1990s, the Administration pursued sanctions against Iran through Executive Order and the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act. The records in this collection include memoranda, reports, briefings, correspondence, and press materials concerning Iran policy. Scope and Content Note The materials in FOIA 2009-1438-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related materials. The records processed in response to this FOIA request address relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States during President Clinton’s first term. Relations with Iran were a major focus in the early Clinton Administration’s foreign policy. The United States had broken formal diplomatic relations with Iran in 1980, though trade between Americans and Iranians had continued throughout the Iran-Iraq War. However, serious differences between the United States and the Iranian government over human rights and support for terrorist organizations continued to strain the relationship. Following a review of Iran policy in 1993, President Clinton announced that his administration would pursue the dual containment of Iran and Iraq. However, in 1995, Conoco Oil pursued a $1 billion oil contract with Iran. This potential deal between a Texas company and the anti-American regime in Tehran, which seemed at odds with the Administration’s stated policy, prompted President Clinton to announce a petroleum embargo against Iran in Executive Order [EO] 12957 on March 15, 1995. Two months later, EO 12959 expanded the embargo and replaced the previous EO. In 1996, Congress passed the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, which imposed sanctions on companies that engage in business with Iran. Although these economic measures were unpopular with many American corporations, the embargo and sanctions against Iran remain in effect to the present day. The files of the National Security Council contain all of the records processed in response to this FOIA request. In the Intelligence Programs directorate, the files of Rand Beers and Don Mitchell contain correspondence, memoranda, and press materials on matters involving Iran policy in 1996. The majority of the relevant records are located in the files of Stephen Grummon within the Near East and South Asian Affairs office. Grummon’s papers consist of press materials, briefings, correspondence, memoranda, and other records regarding many Iran-related topics. These topics include the Conoco Oil deal and the resulting Executive Orders, the embargo and economic sanctions, and the relations between other Western nations and Iran. In this same office, the files of Martin Indyk add articles and correspondence concerning Iran policy in 1993, as well as Amnesty International reports on human rights conditions. Similar records on the economic isolation of Iran, as well as documents addressing Non-proliferation concerns, are located in the files of Nonproliferation and Export Controls staff members Steven Aoki, Daniel Poneman, and Gary Samore. Lastly, the Records Management Office’s files contain administrative documents regarding Deputies Committee meetings, Principals Committee meetings, and a Presidential Review Directive on matters affecting the Clinton Administration’s Iran policy. The majority of the records related to this FOIA are closed for national security reasons. Record Type Textual System of Arrangement Records that are responsive to this FOIA request were found in one collection area –Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files. Staff and Office Files were maintained at the folder level by staff members within their individual offices and document all levels of administration activity. Staff and Office files are processed at the folder level, that is, individual documents are not selected and removed from a folder for processing. While this method maintains folder integrity, it frequently results in the incidental processing of documents that are not wholly responsive to the subject area. Access Collection is open to all researchers. Access to Clinton Presidential Records is governed by the Presidential Records Act (PRA) (44 USC 2201) and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 USC 552, as amended) and therefore records may be restricted in whole or in part in accordance with legal exemptions. Copyright Documents in this collection that were prepared by officials of the United States government as part of their official duties are in the public domain. Researchers are advised to consult the copyright law of the United States (17 USC, 101) which governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Provenance Official records of William Jefferson Clinton’s presidency are housed at the Clinton Presidential Library and administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) under the provisions of the Presidential Records Act (PRA). Processed by Staff Archivist, 2012. Previously restricted materials are added as they are released. Last Modified Date 2012-09-27 Container List The following is a list of documents and folders processed in response to FOIA 2009-1438-F: Box 1 Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files National Security Council Intelligence Programs Beers, Rand Iran, 1996 [OA/ID 2526] Mitchell, Don Iran 93-94: [Iran 94] [OA/ID 3032] Iran 93-94 [OA/ID 3032] Iran, 1995 [1] [OA/ID 3032] Iran, 1995 [2] [OA/ID 3032] Iran, 1995 [3] [OA/ID 3032] Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files (continued) National Security Council Intelligence Programs Mitchell, Don Iran, 1995 [4] [OA/ID 3032] Iran, 1995: [Iran/Germany] [OA/ID 3032] Iran, 1995 [5] [OA/ID 3032] Box 2 Iran, 1996-1997: [Briefing for Samuel Berger] [OA/ID 3032] Iran, 1996-1997: [Iran 1996 Proposal] [OA/ID 3032] Iran, 1996-1997 [1] [OA/ID 3032] Iran, 1996-1997 [2] [OA/ID 3032] Near East and South Asian Affairs Cooper, Kathleen Annual Review – Iran, Iraq, Libya (1993) [OA/ID 2832] [Working Group on Iran] [loose] [OA/ID 2832] Grummon, Stephen Conoco [OA/ID 723] Iran – EC [European Community] [OA/ID 723] Iran – PRD [Presidential Review Directive] [1] [OA/ID 723] Iran – PRD [Presidential Review Directive] [2] [OA/ID 723] Box 3 Iran – PRD [Presidential Review Directive] [3] [OA/ID 723] Iran – PRD [Presidential Review Directive] [4] [OA/ID 723] [Closed Folder Title] [OA/ID 723] Implementing the E.O. [Executive Order] on Iran [1] [OA/ID 723] Implementing the E.O. [Executive Order] on Iran [2] [OA/ID 723] Iran – Germany, October 1993 [1] [OA/ID 723] Iran – Germany, October 1993 [2] [OA/ID 723] Box 4 Key Iran Papers [1] [OA/ID 723] Key Iran Papers [2] [OA/ID 723] Iran PC [Principals Committee Meeting], April 4, 1995 [OA/ID 723] Iran Executive Order, May 6, 1995 [OA/ID 723] Iran, September 1995 [OA/ID 723] Halifax – Iran, June 1995 [OA/ID 723] Iran IWG [Interagency Working Group] 12/94 [1] [OA/ID 723] Iran IWG [Interagency Working Group] 12/94 [2] [OA/ID 723] Iran IWG [Interagency Working Group] 12/94 [3] [OA/ID 723] Iran IWG [Interagency Working Group] 12/94: Appt. Info [OA/ID 723] Box 5 Iran – Economics [1] [OA/ID 724] Iran – Economics [2] [OA/ID 724] Iran [1] [OA/ID 724] Iran [2] [OA/ID 724] Iran [3] [OA/ID 724] Iran [4] [OA/ID 724] Iran – Trucks, December 1993 [1] [OA/ID 724] Box 6 Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files (continued) National Security Council Near East and South Asian Affairs Grummon, Stephen Iran – Trucks, December 1993 [2] [OA/ID 724] Iran – U.S. [1] [OA/ID 724] Iran – U.S. [2] [OA/ID 724] Iran – U.S. [3] [OA/ID 724] Indyk, Martin Iran Policy, January 1993 [1] [OA/ID 255] Iran Policy, January 1993 [2] [OA/ID 255] Iran, January 1993 [OA/ID 255] Germany/Iran, 1993 [OA/ID 255] Nonproliferation and Export Controls Aoki, Steven PRC [People’s Republic of China]/Iran, 1995 [OA/ID 1034] Box 7 Poneman, Daniel/Samore, Gary Iran, 1995 – 1996 File #3 [1] [OA/ID 1433] Iran, 1995 – 1996 File #3 [2] [OA/ID 1433] Iran, 1995 – 1996 File #3 [3] [OA/ID 1433] Iran, 1995 – 1996 File #3 [4] [OA/ID 1433] Iran, 1995 – 1996 File #3 [5] [OA/ID 1433] Samore, Gary et al. Iran 1993 File #1 [1] [OA/ID 1368] Iran 1993 File #1 [2] [OA/ID 1368] Iran 1993 File #1 [3] [OA/ID 1368] Box 8 Iran 1993 File #1 [4] [OA/ID 1368] Iran 1993 File #1 [5] [OA/ID 1368] Iran 1993 File #1 [6] [OA/ID 1368] Records Management DC0020 DC [Deputies Committee] Meeting on Iran, April 15, 1993 [1] [OA/ID 3994] DC0020 DC [Deputies Committee] Meeting on Iran, April 15, 1993 [2] [OA/ID 3994] DC0175 DC [Deputies Committee] Meeting on Caspian Oil Swaps – Oil Exports to Iran by U.S. Majority-Business Ventures in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, February 17, 1995 [OA/ID 4000] DC0183 DC [Deputies Committee] Meeting on Conoco Oil Contract with Iran, March 13, 1995 [OA/ID 4000] DC0190 DC [Deputies Committee] Meeting on Iran – Nuclear Reactors and Conoco Oil, March 27, 1995 [OA/ID 4000] Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files (continued) National Security Council Records Management PC0019 PC [Principals Committee] Meeting on Iran, May 13, 1993 [1] [OA/ID 4005] Box 9 PC0019 PC [Principals Committee] Meeting on Iran, May 13, 1993 [2] [OA/ID 4005] PC0127 PC [Principals Committee] Meeting on Iran, April 4, 1995 [OA/ID 4008] PRD-16 U.S. Policy Toward Iran, February 22, 1993 [1] [OA/ID 4123] PRD-16 U.S. Policy Toward Iran, February 22, 1993 [2] [OA/ID 4123] PRD-16 U.S. Policy Toward Iran, February 22, 1993 [3] [OA/ID 4123] Staff Director Soderberg, Nancy Iran – Sanctions, 1996 [OA/ID 1405]