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    "localId": "23898405",
    "label": "Iran Update: December 15, 1980",
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    "id": "23898405",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/23898405",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Iran Update: December 15, 1980",
    "description": "This document is a December 14, 1980 Department of State Briefing Memorandum providing an update on the Iran hostage crisis.",
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    "collections": [
        "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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    "pageIndex": 0,
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    "ocrText": "SEÇRET/SENSITIVE\n-2-\n-- We have replied to Algerian Foreign Minister Ben Yahia's\nrequest for further clarification on the issue Shah's\nassets. According to Reuter, the Algerian team will remain in\nTehran for several more days but was planning to go to Damascus\non Sunday to consult with Ben Yahia. We have no official\nconfirmation.\n-- The West German Embassy here has informed the IWG of a\nrecent conversation between Ghotbzadeh and a mid-level German Embassy\nofficial in Tehran. The meeting, which took place at Ghotbzadeh's\nrequest, mystifies the Germans because Ghotbzadeh gave no indication\nof what he expected his approach to accomplish. He opened the\ndiscussion by explaining that \"many followers of the liberal\ncamp in Iran\" have become greatly concerned by the \"substantial*\ncommunist penetration of all levels of Iranian public life.\nInfiltration of the Ministries by the Tudeh party extends to the\nhighest level, according to Ghotbzadeh, who includes Nabavi as a\nTudeh agent. Ghotbzadeh also said there were communists in the\nIRP and \"even the circle of the Imam contains such people. \"\n-- Ghotbzadeh then went on to say that in response to this\nsituation, \"some clerics, Bazaaris and military people have\njoined with the liberals\" to establish contacts with Iranians\nabroad with a view to \"building support for an alternative\nleadership. The clerical members of this group reportedly include\nAyatollahs Shirazi, Hademi and, most importantly, Golpagani,\naccording to Ghotbzadeh, who admits the military and Bazaaris are by\nno means united in their support for the liberals and will require\n\"a lot of basic organizing.\" The population as a whole is\n\"politically indifferent\" but religious, Ghotbzadeh said, and the\nclerical leaders will be essential in focusing the dissatisfaction\nof the masses on Iran's economic problems.\nIn summing up the conversation, Ghotbzadeh said that relieving\n\"the present incompetent government\" would be no easy task for\nthe liberals, and would require hard work, time, money and\nweapons. However, he made no request for support or further\ncontact. We are told the German Embassy official noted Ghotbzadeh's\ncomments, but made no substantive response. The German Embassy\nbelieves Ghotbzadeh's analysis to be self-serving, but also see\nit as an indication that the forces in the middle in Iran are\nbecoming more active. The FRG has informed the British of\nGhotbzadeh's approach as well as ourselves. The Germans are\nnaturally concerned about being seen to be involved in an anti-\ngovernment conspiracy and ask that we hold this report in the\nstrictest confidence.\nDrafted: NEA/IWG:RELindstrom/ASens\nSECRET/SENSITIVE"
}