CIA-RDP96-00789R000401020008-7

Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R02-101022008-7
Washington Post 8 mar 90
Administration Welcomes 'Encouraging' Sign
By Ann Devroy
Washington Post Staff Writer
Amid increasing signs of significant
changes inside Iran and hints of secret di-
plomacy, the Bush administration yesterday
welcomed "encouraging" signals from Teh-
ran on the fate of the American hostages.
In Tehran, President Ali Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani told journalists that Iran wanted to
solve the hostage problem. "My feeling is
that the issue of the hostages is moving to-
wards a solution," he said at a news confer-
ence after the return of Mahmoud Hashemi,
his brother, from visits to Syria and Lebanon
where he met with officials and Shiite Mos-
lem leaders.
U.S. government and outside experts on
Iran said that Rafsanjani, after several
months in office marked by a power strug-
gle with extremists who oppose his plans to
improve relations with the West, is now
consolidating his control. That consolida-
tion, they said, was the most positive sign
that five years of Western efforts to free 18
hostages might reach fruition.
Officials yesterday cited as a significant
sign the arrival of a special mission from the
World Bank in Tehran to review an Iranian
request for economic assistance. The ne-
gotiations followed a two-month battle in
the Iranian parliament, which approved a
Rafsanjani plan to borrow about $27 billion
from foreign countries despite initial oppo-
sition from hard-liners. The money would
finance an ambitious five-year project to
rebuild Iran's economy and infrastructure,
devastated by the war with Iraq.
White House press secretary Marlin Fitz-
water said the administration was "encour-
aged by the comments" of Rafsanjani. The
remarks, Fitzwater added, "are certainly
more hopeful than we have heard in the
more distant past."
A senior administration official described
the attitude of officials at the White House
as "one of we wait and sit and read tea
leaves and read cables and feel optimistic,
but many of us have been through this be-
fore. We are more optimistic, yes, but there
is no sign of imminent release" of the hos-
tages. Another senior official said: "We
think nothing is going to happen immediate-
ly. But I think only three people know what
als From Iran on Hostages
really is happening-the president, [Sec-
retary of State James A.] Baker and [nation-
al security adviser] Brent Scowcroft."
Gary Sick, who handled Iranian matters on
President Jimmy Carter's National Security
Council staff and now observes Iran from Co-
lumbia University, said yesterday: "I am as
optimistic as I have ever been. I think this is
it. I really do . . . . I see this [release of the
hostages] as the next step. He [Rafsanjani].
needs it and he is doing this not because he
cares about the hostages but simply to rein-
force his position domestically."
Sick interpreted Rafsanjani's decision to
publicly predict a solution to the hostage cri-
sis as a sign of his growing control of the gov-
ernment. But like several administration of-
ficials, Sick cautioned, "Things can always go
wrong, especially in Lebanon."
In Lebanon yesterday, a group calling it-
self the Revolutionary Justice Organization
said it had no intention of releasing "two
American hostages it has been holding.
They are Joseph Cicippio of Pennsylvania
and Edward Austin Tracy of Vermont, an
author. There are six other American hos-
tages among the 18 from the West.
The new optimism was triggered by a se-
ries of editorials in Iran's Tehran Times over
the past 10 days calling for the first time for
an "unconditional" release of foreign captives
held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.
In addition to the editorials, a senior Hez-
bollah official, Hussein Mussawi, has· ex-
See HOSTAGES, A32, Col. 1
pressed hope for an early release of
the hostages, according to the of-
ficial Iranian news agency. In the
past, Mussawi spoke out strongly
against concessions to the West and
unconditional release of the hos-
tages. Hezbollah's spiritual guide,
Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlal-
lah, last week voiced optimism and
called for an end to the hostage cri-
sis, in his Friday sermon.
Two Iranian government envoys
went to Damascus and Beirut in an
unannounced visit two days ago to
consult with Syrian officials and Shi-
ite clerics. Sources in Beirut said
Mahmoud Hashemi, director of the
Middle East department at the Iran-
ian Foreign Ministry, and Mahmoud
Akhtari, Iran's ambassador to Syria,
traveled to Beirut from Syria.
Sources in Washington said Syr-
ian Foreign Minister Farouk Charaa
was planning to visit the Iranian
capital in the next two days. ..
The mission from the World
Bank is the second to Tehran in the
past three months. The bank had
cut off loans to Iran after the 1979
explosion in oil prices raised Iran's
income beyond the ceiling for bank.
assistance. The move coincided
with the seizure of U.S. hostages.
Iran, again eligible for assistance,
requested it in September, prompt-
ing the visits by the World Bank
teams. While the United States has
no direct control over World Bank
loans, its voting rights and pressure
on allies could thwart an Iranian ef-
Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000401020008-7 to obtain the credits. A White
House official said the United
States would oppose such funding,