Weinberger Urges Further Efforts to Improve Ties
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BRUSSELS — U.S. Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger said Friday that President Reagan should keep trying to improve relations with Iran despite the uproar over secret arms transactions.
The defense secretary addressed a news conference at the close of a NATO defense ministers meeting. Later Friday, he arrived in Rabat, Morocco, for a meeting with King Hassan II.
Weinberger linked the Reagan Administration’s continuing attempts to gain the release of American hostages in Lebanon with further efforts at establishing closer links with Tehran.
Weinberger reiterated his view that Reagan could not deal with Iran’s present leadership, but he told reporters in Brussels the Administration would “take every means and do everything we can” to seek the hostages’ release.
He said America could not afford to ignore Iran as a force in the Middle East.
“The country itself is enormously important,” he said. “Nothing can change that.”
In a joint statement at the close of their two-day meeting, the 14 defense ministers did not mention the Iran issue or the Reagan Administration’s violation last week of the terms of the SALT II arms agreement.
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