Iran: The Test of Wills

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"a stupid, vindictive old man"—their official support seemed tepid. Asked New York Times Columnist James Reston: "Where are the allies?" Where, he wondered, are the Europeans who always yearned for "collective security"? European diplomats retorted that they had backed the U.S. as well as they could and that West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, in particular, had strongly supported Carter. Schmidt told colleagues: "The West must show unity. We must back the U.S." If the Europeans were restrained, it was probably because 1) it was a time for "cool professionalism," as an American diplomat put it; 2) the U.S. had not asked for or expected stronger public support; and 3) Iran supplies 9% of West Germany's oil imports and 20% of Britain's.

President Carter was awakened at 5:35 Saturday morning with the news from Tehran that Khomeini had called for the release of a few of the hostages. But then followed a delay. On Sunday night, the students summoned foreign newsmen to a press conference with the first three of the hostages scheduled to be freed.

The three introduced themselves as Sgt. Ladell Maples, 23, of Earle, Ark., and Sgt. William Quarles, 23, of Washington, D.C., both black Marines, and Kathy Gross, 22, of Cambridge Springs, Pa., a secretary to the embassy's Economic and Commercial Counsellor. For over two hours, they answered questions. "We were treated very good," said Gross. "We've been fed more than was adequate. We've slept nights." Later, however, she mentioned that for the first 16 hours of her captivity, she had been forced to sit in a chair with her hands tied to the armrests. It was also revealed that the hostages were not permitted to talk with one another or read newspapers. Said Maples: "We didn't know what was going on."

Why these particular three were chosen for early release was not revealed. "I have learned a lot about the other side here," Quarles told reporters. "The people of the United States should turn around and look at things differently for a change." All three, however, did show a certain sensitivity to being the first freed. "I had no choice," said Quarles. "I would have liked to stay with them, but there's nothing I can do about it."

Meanwhile, back in the U.S., the days of waiting were having an effect on the families of those still held in Tehran. Some wives all but charged the State Department with criminal negligence for having failed to protect its staff once the Shah had been admitted to the U.S. "I am so bitter I could scream," said Louisa Kennedy, wife of Hostage Mike Kennedy. She has been manning telephones in the State Department Operations Center, talking to families of other hostages.

Totally at the root of the present dispute between the U.S. and Iran is the deposed Shah. Though Americans themselves are divided on their views toward the Shah, few perceive him as an "Iranian Hitler," as Iranian revolutionaries now call him, charging that his forces slaughtered 10,000 Iranian civilians in the months before the monarchy collapsed. Even fewer Americans would be prepared to allow the Shah to be returned to Iran involuntarily to face the Ayatullah's revolutionary justice.

The question of