U.S. EDGING CLOSER TO DECISION ON REPARATIONS FOR VICTIMS' KIN

President Reagan said Friday the administration is considering the question of compensation for the destruction of Iran Air Flight 655, but a spokesman said the issue has not yet been submitted to the president for decision.

Reagan, asked what he was going to do about compensation, said, "All of that's under consideration." He was asked during a brief appearance in the White House briefing room.White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said there were "still some open questions" on the compensation issue and it had not yet gone to the president for a decision.

"There is a universe of issues to be considered related to legal aspects of it, to the specifics of the incident, to relations between the two countries, and to past experience and history," Fitzwater said.

He would not be more specific.

Fitzwater also disclosed that the United States has sent messages of condolence to the countries from which the airline passengers came, asking that sympathies be extended to the families. The countries are Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, India, Yugoslavia and Italy.

On Thursday, Fitzwater said, "I suspect that doing what we think is right will be the deciding factor."

Fitzwater's comments marked a significant change in the tone of administration pronouncements after several days of noncommittal responses on the issue of reparations for families of the 290 victims.

"One of the driving forces behind our consideration is simply the moral responsibility of America and the fact that we've always been a humane nation that takes these kinds of problems very seriously and assumes personal responsibilities," he said.

The Defense Department acknowledged Thursday that

the Iranian A300 Airbus shot down by the U.S. warship was within a commercial airline corridor but said that alone did not guarantee its safety.

"An airway is not a safety zone," said Pentagon spokesman Dan Howard. "All this means is that within that zone, within that area, the air traffic control authorities have agreed to track aircraft."

Meawhile, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Sheikholeslam demanded that the United States pay compensation for shooting down the civilian airliner.

Sheikholeslam also called for revenge Thursday in a speech on Tehran radio, monitored by the British Broadcasting Corp. in a report made available Friday.