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Nuclear Power. Back in Tehran at week's end, Kissinger served as co-chairman of the Joint Commission. The main topic of this meeting was the efforts being made to conclude a U.S.-Iranian nuclear power plant agreement. The project would run for more than 20 years and would involve the sale of eight to ten nuclear power plants (valued at about $2 billion apiece). An American draft agreement was submitted to the Iranian atomic energy organization in June, but a few details remain to be worked out.
To round out the tour, Kissinger planned brief stopovers in Afghanistan, Pakistan, France and The Netherlands. He had wanted to go to Australia but had to cancel out when Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser asked to make a Bicentennial visit to the U.S. He had also hoped to stop in Manila to sign a new base agreement with the Philippines, but the talks bogged down, so that was out. In fact, he even had to do a little arm twisting to get himself invited to The Netherlands. Even though Kissinger had never paid the country a visit, the Dutch tried diplomatically to decline the honor this time, pointing out that several top officials were away on August vacations. But the Secretary replied gently that it was now or never, so the Dutch quickly agreed to serve as hosts for a six-hour call.
What appears to pain Kissinger most of all is that so many observers regard his current junket as a farewell tour. Is the Secretary still hoping that Jerry Ford can pull off the election and keep him on? "Why do you want eight more years?" a friend asked recently. "Only four, only four," replied Kissinger, not altogether in jest.
* Iran is the U.S.'s No. 1 arms customer, with $10.4 billion in purchases during 1972-75. Runners-up: Israel ($5.5 billion during the same period) and Saudi Arabia ($3.1 billion). Another Middle Eastern purchaser is Jordan, which for a while this year was considering buying an air-defense system from the Soviet Union. Instead, King Hussein decided to purchase an American Hawk antiaircraft missile system. The deal was reportedly put together after Iran joined Saudi Arabia in offering to help Jordan raise part of the $550 million required.