Word: raja
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...first time since the aborted American rescue mission in April that there had been any kind of direct contact between the two governments. The form was a letter from U.S. Secretary of State Edmund Muskie to Iran's new Prime Minister, Mohammed Ali Raja'i. Muskie asked that Iran's parliament reconsider the release of the 52 American hostages still held in the country. Said a State Department official in Washington: "The letter represents an effort to open the lines of communication now that the Iranians are getting a constitutional government in place...
...harsh criticism of the U.S., Iran's highly visible Foreign Minister, Sadegh Ghotbzadeh, has actually been a moderating influence within his country's government. As new Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Raja 'i was busy choosing his Cabinet last week, Ghotbzadeh sent an extraordinary letter to the Majlis (parliament), warning that a trial of the 52 U.S. hostages "would be against the national interest, "and urging a speedy, negotiated resolution of the crisis. Since the Majlis is dominated by fundamentalist Muslims of the Islamic Republic Party, many of whom want to prosecute some of the hostages as spies...
...What do you think of Mr. Raja'i, the new Prime Minister...
Nonetheless, that was enough to recommend Raja'i to members of the clergy-controlled Islamic Republic Party, which dominates Iran's parliament, the Majlis. That body approved Raja'i's nomination by the lopsided vote of 153 to 24, with 19 abstentions. Banisadr had stated publicly that he considered Raja'i a bad choice. But he finally bowed to clerical pressures and nominated Raja'i at the "recommendation" of a parliamentary commission controlled by the I.R.P. Explained a senior civil servant: "Khomeini was becoming impatient. It was obvious that the more brazen-faced mullahs...
...Raja'i is unlikely to be much more than a front man for Beheshti and his clerical allies. The new Prime Minister is unimposing in person; he has no popular following and little apparent political savvy. Critics say that he is "headstrong" only when standing on firm ground. Arrested for distributing antigovernment literature in 1974, Raja'i is said by fellow inmates to have begged for mercy when tortured by SAVAK, the Shah's secret police. "His behavior at the time was certainly not heroic," notes one former prisoner. Students in his math classes at the Kamal...