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    "title": "Iran Update: December 13, 1980",
    "description": "This document is a December 13, 1980 Department of State Briefing Memorandum providing an update on the Iran hostage crisis.",
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        "Records of the Office of the National Security Advisor (Carter Administration)",
        "Zbigniew Brzezinski's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) President's Daily Brief Files"
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    "type": "document",
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    "ocrText": "SECRET\nSENSITIVE\nDEPARTMENT OF STATE\nBRIEFING MEMORANDUM\nS/S\nC\nDecember 13, 1980\nSECRET/SENSITIVE\nTO:\nThe Acting Secretary\nP - Mr. Newsom\nFROM:\nNEA - Harold H. Saunders HHSP\nIran Update - December 13, 1980\nToday's Objectives\n--- To continue to monitor and evaluate Iranians\nreactions to our position on the hostage issue.\n-- To meet with the families of the hostages to\nbrief them on the current status of our efforts to obtain\nthe release of the hostages.\n-- To respond to Swiss Ambassador Lang's recommenda-\ntions for observance of Christmas by the hostages in the\nevent that they have not been released.\nStatus of Initiatives\n-- Our reply to the latest Iranian request for clari-\nfications was sent to Algiers yesterday for transmittal\nto Tehran by the Algerians. It will apparently have to\nbe forwarded Saturday morning to Foreign Minister Ben Yahia,\nwho is reportedly in Damascus. Plans for the Algerian\ndelegation in Tehran to meet with the Algerian Foreign\nMinister in Damascus, reported in yesterday's Update, have\nbeen cancelled. The Algerian delegation in Tehran is pre-\npared to stay there as long as necessary in order to receive\nthe Iranian response. According to the Algerian Charge in\nWashington, who has talked with Ambassador Malik by phone,\nthe Algerian delegation in Tehran is \"optimistic\" about the\npossibility of resolving the hostage problem within a\nrelatively short period of time, but we have received no\nsuch assessment from the Foreign Minister.\nDECLASSIFIED\nSECRET SENSITIVE\nPer; Rac Project\nRDS-3 12/13/00\nESDN; NLC- 2-33-5-7-1\nBY NASP NABA DATE 7/18/2015\nSECRET\nSENSITIVE\nSECRET SENSITIVE\nSECRET/SENSITIVE\n2\n-- Rahmatolah Mogaddam (former Governor of Azerbaijan)\ntold the Working Group that he had tried in vain during the\npast week to reach Beheshti directly by phone. Each of his\nfour calls was taken by an aide to Beheshti. Mogaddam used\nthe opportunity to voice his concern that the continued\nholding of the American hostages could prove disasterous for\nIran, and recalled for the aides the Mossadeqh experience with\na new Republican administration in 1953. According to Mogaddam\nthe first two aides were \"sympathetic\" and thanked him for\nconveying his concerns. The third aide adopted a \"neutral\"\nattitude and simply indicated he would convey Mogaddam's words\nto Beheshti. The fourth aide was \"aggressive\" and tcok issue\nwith Mogaddam's contention that Iranian interests would be\nserved by releasing the hostages. The fourth aide also\ncriticized Mogaddam for involving himself in Iranian affairs\nfrom abroad and asked on whose behalf Mogaddam was calling.\nMogaddam replied that he was speaking for himself, as a\nnationalist who loves his country.\n-- Imam Khorasani informed the Working Group that he has\nlearned from telephone calls to Iran and from letters received\nby Tranians in California from Iran, that popular unrest caused\nby hardships such as lack of fuel, medicine, and scarcity of\nfood is growing. For the first time demonstrators protesting\ngovernmental policies and specific leaders have also been heard\nto mention Khomeini by name. While no one is shouting \"death\nto Khomeini,\" chants of \"Xhomeini we have waited too long\"\nhave been heard. Recently unrest has been particularly serious\nin Khorasan province (in the East) which is said to be the\nreason for Prime Minister Rajai's visit to that region.\n-- Khorasani also commented that anti-Khomeini sentiment\nis building up among Iranians in California who had once been\nstaunch supporters of Khomeini. Increasingly they see Khomeini\nas a leader who had negative effectiveness in toppling the Shah,\nbut one who is extremely inept in governing a country and\ndealing with the urgent problems besetting Iran. They even\nquestion his religious credentials, pointing out that he is,\nthrough his policies, making the healthy ill and the prosperous\npoor, contrary to the teaching of the Prophet Mohammad. These\nIranians now doubt that Khomeini can survive much longer as a\npolitical figure unless steps are taken promptly to end Iran's\nisolation which would enable the government to begin dealing\nwith its enormous economic and military problems.\n-- The IWG spoke yesterday with Kansas State professor\nNorman Forer (who was involved in setting up earlier visits to\nIran) about the four black clergymen who, according to press\nreports, are on their way to Tehran to \"bring home the hostages.\"\nSECRET/SENSITIVE\nSECRET SENSITIVE\nSECRET SENSITIVE\nSECRET/SENSITIVE\n3\nForer admitted knowledge of the group and said he thought they\nhad been invited to Tehran by \"the Iranian government.\"\nAsked which faction the invitation might have come from,\nForer responded that there would be no point in going ,to Tehran\nwithout the approval of the clerics. Commenting of the four\nministers, Forer said they were sensible, decent men, not\npublicity seekers nor identified with, or known to be critical of,\nthe USG. He said he believed the four must be seen as ideal by\nthe Iranians to be involved in any hostage release. Note: the\nfour have not sought USG approval for their trip. We have been\nunable to confirm that the four have indeed arrived in Tehran.\n-- We have a response from Swiss Ambassador Lang to our\nrequest for his views on possible Christmas arrangements for\nthe hostages. He has discussed the matter with the Papal Nuncio\nand other diplomats who agree with Lang that the psychological\nbenefits to the hostages of a visit by American clergymen would\nbe substantial, but such a visit would almost certainly re-\nawaken the \"Tabas syndrome\" if proposed. For this reason, Lang\nbelieves the Iranians would not agree to assemble the hostages\nat the compound or clsewhere, even for Christmas. And the risk\nin proposing American clergymen, Lang believes, is that Rajai\nand/or the militants would then counter by presenting Algerian\nCardinal Duval (who doesn't speak English) or someone even less\nsuitable as an alternative.\n-- To allay Iranian security concerns Lang suggests he be\nauthorized to ask Rajai to permit visits to small groups of\nhostages over a period of several days beginning on Christmas\nby local clergy. He has in mind a young, sympathetic Irish\npriest on the Nuncio's staff, a Father Cyril Mulligan, who in\naddition is an accomplished pianist. He also has in mind a\nLutheran pastor, Dr. Pfarrar Bernbeck (presumably European),\nwho is \"nice and speaks good English.\" Lang has no recommenda-\ntion as yet for a Rabbi who might be acceptable, but is thinking\nabout it.\n-- Ambassador Lang has requested our reply as soon as\npossible re the arrangements for a Christmas clergy visit. We\nrecommend acquiescing in his recommendation that he seek, in\ncoordination with the Algerian Ambassador, permission for the\nabove-mentioned clergymen to visit the hostages at Christmas.\nApprove\nDisapprove\n-- In addition Ambassador Lang has plans to request a\nspecial exchange of mail for the Christmas holidays, inquire\nabout the possibility of medical visits, and find out whether\nexchanges of taped messages might be possible.\nCC: Transmitted to the Secretary by telegram.\nNEA/IWG:RELindstrom/ADSens/LWSemakis\n12/13/80 ext 26610\nSECRET SENSITIVE\nSECRET/SENSITIVE"
}