Word: banisadr
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Those expectations appeared to be dashed when President Abolhassan Banisadr said that the two issues were not related. Then last week the Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini announced that the hostages' release would have to be decided by the country's new Majlis (National Assembly), which will be elected later this month and convene on April 7. At week's end the militants apparently agreed that the U.N. commission members would be able to meet the hostages-but when and under what circumstances were not clear...
...reneged on a commitment in order to further humiliate and punish the U.S.? Had U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, who handled much of the negotiations, promised Washington more than Tehran was prepared to deliver? The most plausible explanation was that the murky internal politics of Tehran were responsible. Both Banisadr, who has advocated release of the hostages since his election in January, and the militants at the embassy had been pressing Khomeini for a decision. Government insiders in Tehran contend that the Ayatullah could not afford to favor either side. If he instructed the militants to release their captives...
...been lifted. At week's end no U.S. correspondents had been granted visas to enter Iran. Still, one Western diplomat interpreted the announcement to mean "preparations are being made for the release of the hostages-a task that is much more complicated than was thought immediately after Banisadr's election...
...week's end, both U.N. and Washington officials stressed the delicate nature of the situation. "Very fragile" and "tenderly balanced" were how Administration aides described the negotiations. Waldheim told TIME: "The whole thing in Iran is extremely complex. But we know that Banisadr and the Revolutionary Council want a peaceful solution. What is needed is patience." But Administration aides were having a hard time masking their disappointment and sense of helplessness after Khomeini's tough-talking broadcasts. Publicly Washington was insisting that nothing Khomeini said had changed the U.N. commission's mandate to win the hostages...
...president of Pax Romana, the International Movement of Catholic Lawyers, Pettiti once headed a team that investigated cases of torture by the Shah's security forces. Although he later became friends with President Banisadr and other Iranian exiles in France, Pettiti is known for his evenhandedness. Says one colleague: "He has the kind of impartiality that would allow him to begin his service on this commission without knowing today what conclusion he will reach tomorrow...