Word: evens
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...under any circumstances. But the students who attacked the U.S. mission were not political adventurers with a lonely, unpopular cause. They were citizens of a state that maintains diplomatic relations with the U.S. Their invasion of the embassy violated a principle of diplomatic immunity that even the most radical and hostile governments have professed to respect. Most important of all, their action was condoned?if not instigated?by Khomeini, Iran's de facto head of state and a leader who himself had sought and received political asylum in the West...
Most Iran specialists in the State Department, buttressed by warnings from the embassy in Tehran, were convinced that the Shah should not be allowed into the U.S. even for emergency medical care. They cited explicit threats from members of the Revolutionary Council as well as from the Iranian embassy in Washington. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Newsom, who is in charge of day-to-day U.S. policy toward Iran, agreed with that assessment. He sought to persuade Secretary of State Cyrus Vance that, regardless of political and humanitarian motives, the granting of even a temporary visa...
...persistent troubles on the deposed Shah ?and on his friends abroad. Says Iranian Expert James Bill of the University of Texas: "If there is any issue Khomeini's government has seized upon, it is the Shah, whom they consider to be murderous. When the U.S. let him in, even for humanitarian reasons, it was almost predictable that there would be a tremendous reaction in Iran." In Bill's view, many Iranians still fear that the Shah might be attempting a comeback, with covert U.S. assistance. "To us that seems ridiculous," says Bill, "but we are dealing with Iranians...
While the Army's 82nd Airborne Division is trained for quick deployment to global hotspots, its base at Fort Bragg, N.C., is 6,500 miles from Tehran. It probably would not be possible to keep secret the dispatching of even a few of its elite units. Said a senior Pentagon official: "You alert the 82nd, and within minutes someone would call his mama to tell her that he was going. Then the news would...
Surprise is also difficult because U.S. planes would be detected as they neared Iran. Even though the Iranian air force's capability has deteriorated dramatically in the past year, its radar units might well be able to pick up approaching aircraft. In any event, the Soviets would surely spot the American planes. Observed Zumwalt: "The Russians would alert the Iranians just to cause us trouble." There would also be the possibility, though not great, that U.S. planes could be shot down by Iranian antiaircraft missiles-all of course supplied...