October 29, 2006 at 08:57:08

View Ratings | Rate It

Original October Surprise (Part 3)

By Robert Parry (about the author)     Page 8 of 13 page(s)

opednews.com     Permalink

At Madrid's Plaza Hotel, Jamshid Hashemi said the Iranians met with Casey and another American whom Hashemi identified as Donald Gregg, the CIA officer working on Carter's NSC.

"What was specifically asked was when these hostages should be released, and it was the wish of Mr. Casey that they be released after the Inauguration," Jamshid Hashemi said. "Then the Reagan administration would feel favorably towards Iran and release the FMS [foreign military sales] funds and the frozen assets and return to Iran what had already been purchased."

The FMS sales referred to $150 million in military hardware that had been bought by the Shah but held back by Carter after Khomeini took power and the hostages were seized. Casey's offer also included F-14 spare parts, which were crucial to the maintenance of Iran's high-tech air force, Jamshid Hashemi said.

After the July meeting with Casey, Jamshid Hashemi said, cleric Mehdi Karrubi returned to Teheran, where he consulted Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the ayatollah's senior advisers. Two to three weeks later, Karrubi called and asked that a second meeting with Casey be arranged, Jamshid Hashemi said.

New arrangements were made for a meeting in mid-August again in Madrid, he said. Karrubi "confirmed" that Khomeini's government had agreed to release the hostages only after Reagan gained power. "Karrubi expressed acceptance of the proposal by Mr. Casey," Jamshid Hashemi said. "The hostages would be released after Carter's defeat."

After the Madrid meetings, Jamshid Hashemi said his brother, Cyrus, began organizing military shipments – mostly artillery shells and aircraft tires – from Eilat, in Israel, to Bandar Abbas, an Iranian port. Jamshid Hashemi valued the military supplies in the tens of millions of dollars.

Election Battle

After Labor Day 1980, with the start of the general election campaign, Jimmy Carter began to show new signs of political life. Carter had survived a Democratic primary challenge from liberal Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy and was benefiting from a uniting of Democrats after their national convention.

There also were widespread public doubts about Ronald Reagan, who was viewed by many as an extremist who might unnecessarily heat up the Cold War. Carter began to slowly close the gap on the former California governor. But the Iranian hostage crisis hovered over his campaign like an accursed spirit.

Though little noticed in Washington, political battles also were breaking out inside the Iranian leadership. Iran's acting Foreign Minister Sadegh Ghotbzadeh told Agence France Presse on Sept. 6 that he had information that Reagan was "trying to block a solution" to the hostage impasse.

The secret Republican plan to delay release of the hostages until after the U.S. elections also had become a point of tension between Iranian President Bani-Sadr and Ayatollah Khomeini, according to Bani-Sadr's account sent to the House October Surprise Task Force in 1992.

Bani-Sadr said he managed to force Khomeini to reopen talks with Carter's representatives. Bani-Sadr said Khomeini relented and agreed to pass on a new hostage proposal to Carter officials through his son-in-law, Sadegh Tabatabai.

The Tabatabai initiative surprised the Carter negotiation team, which had pretty much given up hope that the Iranians would agree to any serious talks. NSC official Gary Sick described the proposal for settling the hostage impasse as "a set of conditions for ending the crisis that were really much gentler than anything Iran had offered before."

The sudden shift in the Iranian position coincided with a renewed concern among Republicans that Carter might actually pull off his October Surprise of a hostage release. A flurry of meetings ensued involving Iranian emissaries and representatives of the Republican October Surprise monitoring operation.

On Sept. 16, Casey was focusing again on the crisis in the region. At 3 p.m., he met with senior Reagan-Bush campaign officials Edwin Meese, Bill Timmons and Richard Allen about the "Persian Gulf Project," according to an unpublished section of the House Task Force report and Allen's notes. Two other participants at the meeting, according to Allen's notes, were Michael Ledeen and Noel Koch.

That same day, Iran's acting foreign minister Ghotbzadeh again was quoted as citing Republican interference on the hostages. "Reagan, supported by [former Secretary of State Henry] Kissinger and others, has no intention of resolving the problem," Ghotbzadeh said. "They will do everything in their power to block it."

 1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8  |  9  |  10  |  11  |  12  |  13

 

http://www.consortiumnews.com

 

View All Book Recommendations

Share this page: (what's this?)                   Tell a Friend:

                                                      (More...)

 

Most Popular Articles in the Last 2 Days (by Recommend Emails) The Obama Puppet -- The world's least powerful man by Paul Craig Roberts Australian camel killing plan angers animal welfare groups; 6000 to be shot! Posted by Stephen Fox Teflon Dick: How Cheney Uses Media For Protection by Linda Milazzo An Open Letter to President Obama from Michael Moore by Michael Moore The End of the Obama Administration by Stephen Soldz Failure to Embrace Power; Obama's, Democrats' Betrayal by Rob Kall Holiday Greetings: President and Man-of-Peace Obama has a Xmas Present for Afghanistan by Dave Lindorff Tonight Obama's escalation will be IMMEDIATELY opposed by Harvey Wasserman The Devastating Consequences of a Corporate Health Care Bill by shamus cooke Divided We Fall by Joe Parko Go To Top 50 Most Popular