Archives: Carter: Shah can stay

(On Nov. 4, 1979, Iranian students stormed and took control of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, holding 53 American hostages for 444 days. The article below, written a few days after the crisis began, is republished from UPI's archives as part of a Special Report.)

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 1979 (UPI) -- President Carter has no intention of asking the ailing shah to leave the United States as a means of freeing American hostages in Iran, a White House official emphasized today.

"We are not in the process, or will we be, of asking the shah to depart while our people are being held over there," the official said.

"The Iranian students profoundly misunderstand American public opinion," he said.

Earlier, the United States made its first contact with the Iranian Revolutionary Council as efforts were intensified to try to free the hostages in Tehran, officials said today.

A spokesman for the State Department's Iran task force said the ranking U.S. diplomat in Tehran, Bruce Laingen, has made contact with Abdul Hasan Bani-Sadr, an Iranian who has been authorized by the ruling Revolutionary Council to speak for it.

Earlier, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had issued an announcement forbidding any contact with Americans seeking to free the hostages.

The spokesman said Laingen, reported under surveillance by the Iranians who took over the U.S. Embassy, has had several discussions with Bani-Sadr. The officials said the discussions have produced no significant change in the situation.

Meanwhile, the United States is trying to get the United Nations Security Council to condemn the embassy takeover and urge release of the hostages.

A White House official said today that former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young was enlisted to seek the support of the Third World countries in the Security Council.

The administration is considering a number of tough responses to the embassy takeover.

The Pentagon took the most decisive action yesterday, halting shipment of military spare parts for which Iran has paid $305 million.

Informants described the following "points of contact" under review:

--The sale of machinery and transportation equipment to Iran, which totaled $309 million in the first eight months of 1979.

--Sale of agricultural shipments, mainly rice, wheat and corn, totaling $246 million to Iran so far this year.

--U.S. deportation policy toward Iranians who have violated terms of their student visas or visitor visas.