Word: raja
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...willing, we shall soon no longer have the hostage issue." With those words, Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Raja'i aroused fresh sparks of hope last week that the 52 Americans in captivity might be freed. Just possibly, said Raja'i, it could happen as early as "the feast, or the birthday, or whatever they call...
Despite the disappointment, the Administration found reason for some encouragement in the week's events. Along with Raja'i, Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini himself seemed ready to resolve the dilemma. The Ayatullah personally approved Iran's answer before it was transmitted to the U.S. by Algerian intermediaries. Muskie speculated that Khomeini's involvement signaled a "new phase" in the negotiations. Another hopeful sign seemed to lie in the fact that the Iranians were no longer talking in terms of a possible phased release of their captives, a notion the U.S. has flatly rejected...
There could no longer be much doubt that the Iranians were anxious to be rid of their American prisoners. In a brief Tehran radio interview Wednesday, Prime Minister Raja'i said of the hostage question, "It is a dead issue now. It has no more political value." He was only admitting the obvious. For Iranians, it is the war with Iraq that has become the overriding issue in the power struggle between the right-wing clergy and moderate President Abolhassan Banisadr. To the clergymen's dismay, Banisadr has emerged as a popular hero. As commander-in-chief...
Some observers believed Raja'i and the mullahs are now positioning them selves to appease public opinion at home...
...Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Raja'i offered what sounded like the definitive word, when at week's end he flatly declared that his government "will not accept any mediation and will not negotiate peace with Iraq." It was difficult to imagine what Palme - or any mortal diplomat - might accomplish under such circumstances...