New Zealanders leaving Iran

Press, 16 January 1979, Page 12

New Zealanders leaving Iran

The New Zealand Embassy in Teheran appears to have coped well with the task of getting New Zealanders out of Iran. The 17 New Zealanders and three dependants who left on the special flight of the Royal New Zealand Air Force Hercules showed relief at being out Some of the 30 or so New Zealanders remaining have extensive interests there and most are unlikely to want to leave under anything short of civil war. However, there are another six New Zealanders who have been unable to get their documentation for exit completed. It will be the major task of the embassy staff to see that these six are able to leave. Beyond that the responsibility of the Government to New Zealanders in Iran is probably at an end. What happens to embassy staff will need to be looked at then.

The two women on the embassy staff, Miss Margaret Hodgetts, a stenographer, and Miss Jean Macallan, the registrar, have now left. Miss Macallan was on the Hercules flight and Miss Hodgetts expected to leave by a civil airliner yesterday. Miss Hodgetts and another staff member, Mr Richard Sewell, were also in Vietnam in the last days before the fall of Saigon. The evacuation was planned from the Teheran end by the six embassy staff, two of whom, Mr Sewell and the counsellor, Mr W. E. Dolan, were on holiday in Europe when they were called back to help with the work. The embassy, partly through the work of the other Staff member, Mr John Goodman, has been active in monitoring developments and this has enabled the Ambassador. Mr C. D. Beeby, to make decisions about the correct time to act. The wives of embassy staff officials are not in Iran. The monitoring has been necessary.

not only for the safety of New Zealanders in Iran, but for the over-all knowledge of the Government about developments there, and for the conducting of trade. From published reports it seems that embassy staff have not escaped some of the frightening moments which are the lot of foreigners in Iran at present. The snow that has fallen in Teheran has quietened some of the protests. Some mob violence is still apparent, particularly from the groups who are hunting for former members of Savak, the secret service which has been disbanded. The Government of Dr Shapur Baktiar has yet to win approval and to demonstrate its authority. Ayatollah Khomeiny, the Shi’ite Muslim leader, appears to have decided after all that he would like to be leader of the country and has formed a government in exile. The attitude of the Army remains crucial. As in all times of a political upheaval the job of diplomats is not easy. The success of their work, even in assisting fellow nationals to leave a country, will depend very much on the thoroughness with which they have briefed themselves, on their detailed knowledge of bureaucratic procedures, and on local customs and regulations. Just how well equipped an embassy may be to deal with an emergency is not very often put to the test. In Teheran, however, it is obvious that New Zealand’s diplomatic team was ready to acquit itself well. Now that a whole new system of government is being sought in Iran, the embassy has the new and challenging task of establishing what a new regime will mean to New Zealand and its trade with Iran. It will have to do its homework again on this and many other topics.