U.S. build-up over Iran protested

The call for the U.S. to reject the
use of force against Iran and seek a
peaceful solution to the crisis con-
tinued to echo around the world
this week following the UN Security
Council resolution which appealed
to Iran to release the hostages and
urged both countries to ‘“‘exercise
utmost restraint.”’

Several countries including

neighboring Pakistan, and Syria

ery SHAH .
for his return.

and Kuwait, have voiced grave con-
cern over the growing threat of U.S.
intervention made more real last
week with the movement of two
U.S. warships into the Arabian
Gulf where another attack force
had already been directed.

The Syrian government em-
phasized ‘‘the use of force against
the Iranian revolution will create an
explosive situation in the Middle
East and a -real threat to world

The Soviet Communist Party
newspaper Pravda had earlier warn-
ed that the U.S. actions had created
a threat to all the countries of the
region and declared: *‘In such ex-
plosive conditions,sthe demands by
the governments and peoples of the
Indian Ocean area that an end be
put to the U.S. military buildup and
that it be made a zone of peace have
a special timeliness.””

The U.S. naval manoeuvres,
which have placed 135 U.S. planes
within reach of the Persian Gulf,
have come amidst a growing eight

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wing clamor in the U.S. Congress
for direct military operation against
Iran if the hostages are not released.

Democratic Representative
Samuel Stratton obtained 53 co-
sponsors on a Congress resolution
which branded the hostage-taking
as ‘fan act of war’’ and demanded
that president Jimmy Carter ‘‘in-
form the Iranian government that
unless the hostages . . . are released
unharmed and returned to U.S.
control by a day certain, the United
States will initiate such selected,
deliberate sustained and increasing
military operations against Iran as
may be required . . . to inflict
suitable retribution on those.
responsible and to restore order and
stability in the oil producing areas
of the Persian Gulf so vital to the
free world.”

The resolution hinted at military
intervention not only against Iran
but other Mideast countries with its
demand that Carter ‘‘order into the
areas adjacent to Iran such
American ground, sea and air
forces as he may deem necessary

”

Although Carter had earlier re-
jected suggestions of military in-
tenvention and stated that: a
peaceful solution to the Iranian
crisis ‘‘is preferable to the other
remedies available to the U.S.,’’ the
Stratton resolution has sounded an
ominous warning.

And Carter has still refused to
discuss the extradition of the Shah
whose appearance in the U.S.
precipitated the crisis.

The Shah left the U.S. air force
base in Texas amidst growing de-
mand, echoed by demonstrators in
several U.S. cities last week, that he

be sent back to Iran to stand trial”

for two decades of crimes against
the Iranian people.

Together with that growing senti-
ment for the Shah’s extradition has
come the realization among many
that the hostage incident is only a
small part of a larger picture which
encompasses Mid East oil politics,
and the war budget.

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PACIFIC TRIBUNE—DECEMBER 19, 1979—Page 12

Pee NTL AT | |

qT

Significantly, a U.S. republican
Congressman George Hansen
charged last month that the U.S.
knew of the danger of hostages be-

ing taken in the U.S. embassy if the:

Shah were admitted to the U.S. but
proceeded to admit him _never-
theless. Pressure from David
Rockefeller, the Shah’s banker, and
former U.S. secretary of state
Henry Kissinger figured prominent-
ly in the U.S. policy stand.

In an interview from Tehran,
Hansen read from a top secret U.S.
document dated Aug. 2 which read:
“The danger of hostages being
taken in Tehran will persist. We
should make no move towards ad-
mitting the Shah until we have ob-
tained and. tested a new and sub-
stantially more effective guard force
from the embassy.”’

Hansen told reporters, ‘‘] think
what we need if we are going to per-
sist in this hostage game is to let Mr.
Rockefeller, the banker in New
York, and Mr. Kissinger, who
seems to be so involved in this
business, comie over here and take
the place of the hostages . . .”

He also added, in reference to the
decision to admit the Shah, “‘My
point is that there are apparently a
few individuals in our government
that made a tragic decision and
precipitated a criminal action.”’

Not surprisingly, Hansen was
made the target of a barrage of
criticism for his disclosures which
gave new and substantive credence
to earlier claims that the U.S. knew
of the likelihood of hostages being
taken if the Shah were admitted.

In Tehran, students have begun
revealing documents from the em-
bassy safe demonstrating clearly

that the U.S. embassy was deeply
involved in’ intelligence” gathering ~

and destabilization.

Evidence was presented to
reporters showing the existence of
special seals used to forge Iranian
entry and exit visas as well as highly
sophisticated electronic surveillance
equipment.

Also shown were millions of
dollars in counterfeit U.S. dollars,
West German Deutschmarks and
Iranian rials which an unnamed Ira-
nian had supposedly brought to the
embassy. The U.S. lamely argued
that it had been ‘“‘investigating’’ the
forged currency.

At the same time, Hassa Sana, a
former advisor for SAVAK, the
Shah’s dreaded secret police,
declared that the CIA was the ar-
chitect of SAVAK, trained its
agents and instituted guidelines for
physical and psychological torture.

The former agent emphasized
that the CIA did not merely
cooperate with SAVAK but ‘‘took
part in joint activities’’.

SAVAK, under the Shah’s
repressive regime, was responsible
for the deaths of 100,000 Iranians.

a

Canada should ‘“‘strive to
resolve the Iranian crisis in the
interests of peace’’ and demand
not only the release of the
hostages but the return of the
Shah to Iran, the Communist
Party’s central executive
declared in a statement last
week.

The CP noted that ‘‘there are
those in Washington who have

tion against Iran’’ and warned
that Canada’s national interests
“*do not lie is saying ‘me too’ to
U.S. imperialism.

“This is a dangerous game of
gunboat diplomacy the real pur-
pose of which is to take control
of the oil resources of the Middle
East, starting with Iran,”’ the
statement said, adding that the
hostages ‘‘are only a pretext in
this dangerous game...”

“No one can question that
embassies and_ staffs operate
under certain international con-
ventions and diplomatic im-
munity and these should be
respected,”’ it said.

Ye “But it is well to recall the

‘Solution lies in return |
of Shah, hostage release’)

not excluded military interven=

people demand that the Shah be

past history of U.S.-Iran rela- |
tions when the U.S. government |)
arbitarily and ruthlessly |)
ovethrew the Mossadegh govern-
ment of Iran in 1953 and impos- |
ed its own man — the Shah —to |
sit over the heads of the Iranian |}
people. -
“They paid heavily for this in
torture and death,”’ it said.
“‘Where were all the defenders
of human rights then and where.
are they now?’’ the CP state-
ment asked. ‘‘What kind of.
human rights does president
Carter uphold? Is it the Shah or
Iranian oil he is concerned about
and prepared to go to war for?
“Why should not the Iranian ~

returned to Iran to stand trial —
and the money of the Irania
people be returned to Iran?”’
It emphasized that Canada’s
national interests lie in helpin
to ensure a peaceful settlemen
of the crisis ‘‘which includes ask-
ing not only for the release of
hostages but also the return to _
Iran of the Shah and the billions —
of Iranian assets that the U.S
seized.”’

| The Canada-U.S.S.R.

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