Word: waldheim
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Indeed, shortly after Waldheim left Tehran, the hostages' situation turned more ominous. The militants at the U.S. embassy demanded that Ghotbzadeh hand over to them U.S. Chargé d'Affaires L. Bruce Laingen, who has been held by the government at the Foreign Ministry. In a letter to Ghotbzadeh, the students said that Laingen "must provide some explanations about documents of espionage discovered in the nest of spies." In addition, the students announced that if the hostages are tried, Vietnamese representatives will be invited to attend. They claimed that one of the hostages, Air Force Lieut. Colonel David...
...expected less from Waldheim's trip than the Secretary-General himself. "I don't have any illusions that I will come back with the hostages," he was reported to have told his aides, "but I hope to start a successful turn, get going in another direction, so that the U.S. and Iran will start negotiating." The 61-year-old diplomat, who once described his office as a mailbox for messages from antagonistic governments, was reluctant to go to Tehran in the first place. "How will the Iranians react?" he asked. "My going there depends on their attitude...
...Iranians quickly made their attitude clear. The Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini announced that he would not meet with Waldheim. Said Khomeini: "I do not trust this man." The militants holding the U.S. embassy also said they would not talk with him. Only Foreign Minister Ghotbzadeh, who has neither the Ayatullah's ear nor the students' respect, was willing to meet with the Secretary-General, but not to bargain over the hostages. Said Ghotbzadeh: "He can come here and be informed of our views. The matter of negotiation is not an issue...
Despite the discouraging word from Iran, Waldheim left for Tehran just hours ahead of the Security Council's approval of a U.S.-sponsored resolution giving him seven days to break the impasse before the start of the debate on.sanctions. In proposing the sanctions resolution, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance reminded the council that Iran had ignored three U.N. demands to free the hostages. Said Vance: "The time has come for the world community to act firmly and collectively, to uphold international law and preserve international peace. If the international community fails to act when its law is flouted...
...leaving for Iran ahead of the vote, Waldheim was able to claim that he alone had made the decision to go. Insisted his spokesman, François Giuliani: "The trip has nothing to do with the Security Council resolution." Waldheim hoped that this would head off any argument that he was acting under orders from the U.S., or that Tehran was allowing him into Iran under pressure from the threat of sanctions. It was the sort of face-saving gesture that has earned the Secretary-General a reputation as a master of diplomatic technicalities and procedures, but its effect...