Word: rafsanjani
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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What Bush is doing is all he can -- or should -- do. He has publicly thanked President Hafez Assad for his help in freeing Polhill, boosting the Syrian's prestige. He has passed the word that he is ready to talk with Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani. This sort of thing makes it easier for Syria and Iran to put pressure on the terrorists holding the hostages...
Even for Americans weary of the roller coaster of emotions that has been part of the hostage dilemma for years, the new development was tantalizing. Iran's President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, whose nation badly needs Western technology to rebuild its war-shattered economy, has been nodding his approval for the hostages' release, a signal to the Shi'ite Muslim groups that hold them, most of which are pro-Iranian. With its Soviet sponsor winding down its support, Syria, which has influence with the IJLP, has also been looking for ways to improve relations with the West...
...break in the hostage deadlock in Lebanon would be a sign that President Rafsanjani has been winning the power struggle in Tehran. He still faces opposition from militants led by former Interior Minister Ali Akbar Mohtashemi, who remains fiercely opposed to the release of the hostages because it might lead to improved relations with the U.S. and the return of Western influence in Iran. In the early 1980s, Mohtashemi helped organize the Lebanese Hizballah. After Rafsanjani became President following the death of Ayatullah Khomeini last year, he began seeking to lure Hizballah leaders away from their longtime allegiance to Mohtashemi...
While it is encouraging that Rafsanjani has publicly expressed a desire for the hostages' release, Western intelligence agencies have yet to detect any activity. Rafsanjani's own goals seem plain. Recently, he has been seeking to borrow as much as $27 billion from Western sources to rebuild his country's economy, which needs money and technology. He also aims to end Iran's diplomatic isolation from both the West and his Arab neighbors. With those goals in mind, he has apparently launched a hostage-release initiative and is seeking maximum publicity so that even if his effort fails, his good...
...Whatever Rafsanjani's intentions, it is Iran's radical opposition, led by former Interior Minister Ali Akbar Mohtashami, that maintains the closest ties with the hostage takers -- and even Mohtashami has only limited sway over them. Last week the Revolutionary Justice Organization, which has three hostages, vowed, "There is no intention to release hostages." Meanwhile, it was disclosed that last month President Bush accepted a phone call from an impostor claiming to be Rafsanjani. Though they do not know for sure, White House officials think the hoax was perhaps perpetrated by Mohtashami's faction to embarrass Rafsanjani...