Iran holds key to fate of French hostages

Press, 4 December 1985, Page 8

Iran holds key to fate of French hostages

NZPA-Reuter Paris A flurry of signals between Paris and Teheran has . raised cautious hopes that Iran could help pave the way for the release of four French hostages in Lebanon, according to diplomats. Relations between Iran and France have been seriously strained since the Islamic revolution of 1979, but efforts to secure the hostages’ release have led to increased contacts between the two countries. France’s External Relations Minister, Roland Dumas, on Friday described Teheran as one of three “keys,” along with Damascus and Beirut, to the hostages’ fate, adding that

Iran had shown a willingness to work for a solution. Speaking after the return to Paris of a two-man French mercy mission to Lebanon, Dumas said that he was hopeful for the first time about the fate of the diplomats, Marcel Carton and Marcel Fontaine, a researcher,. Michel Seurat, and a journalist, Jean-Paul Kauffmann. Kauffmann’s wife, Joelle, also emphasised Iran’s possible role, saying that she had been assured of help in response to a letter she wrote to the Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeiny. “I was told that the Iranian authorities will do all they can in their power to work towards the release

of Jean-Paul,” she said, commenting on a meeting with Iran’s charge d’affaires in Paris, Ali Reza Moaiyeri. Diplomats said that Iran’s position would be critical as all four French hostages are believed to be held by the Islamic Jihad, a shadowy organisation of pro-Iranian Muslims. < But they added that Iran was unlikely to act without something in return from Paris and appeared to be seeking a broader review of relations. Iran’s desire for a broader agreement was indicated on Friday by the leader of a delegation of French Parliamentarians due to visit Teheran later this week at the invitation of Iran.

Jean-Marie Daillet, of the Centre-Right U.D.F. party, said that the Iranians had suggested that they would send a mission to Lebanon ; to inquire about the hostages if Paris made a “good will gesture” concerning Iranian funds frozen in Paris. /. The funds, a major irritant in relations between France and Iran,consist of a JUSlbillion loan granted by the late Shah of Iran to help fund a French uranium enrichment consortium. The conservative Beirut newspaper "An-Nahar” said that Iran’s conditions for action on the hostages were relayed to the French envoys who returned to Paris on Friday after 11 days in Lebanon.