European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 30, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes Mirrill Hartson limits Learned from past guide talks with Iran still nursing scars from the Iran Contra affair the . Government is publicly imposing ground rules that seem to limit flexibility in winning the re lease of american hostages in Lebanon. Officials at the White House and state department say no deals will be negotiated with Iran and that . Government will discuss the hostage situation Only with authoritative representatives of the Irani an government. Neither of these limitations was placed on the Jock eying in 1985-86 that led to the Clandestine sales of . Arms to Iran the diversion of proceeds to Nicara Guan rebels and the subsequent indictment of two one time White House officials. However two american hostages David Jacobsen and the Rev. Benjamin Weir were released during that period. President Reagan subsequently argued that he was merely seeking an opening to Iran not an arms for hostages Trade when he approved the Transfer of Tow anti tank and anti aircraft missiles to Iran. A presidential panel disagreed with him and so Dida joint congressional investigative committee. Reagan eventually acknowledged that what had started out As an overture to moderate political elements in Iran had turned into what the Public perceived As an arms for hostages Swap. Iran s acceptance last week of a . Resolution imposing a cease fire in the Long War with Iraq has raised expectations of an improved climate for getting the hostages out of Lebanon. When asked monday if the time were Ripe to try Youssef Ibrahim once again to talk to the iranians about the hostages Reagan said of the iranian officials if they re ready and willing to talk it s  but administration officials followed that Broad Brush remark with a series of statements Stres sing limitations on . Willingness to Deal with Iran on this subject. They said the administration  again fall prey to something that could be construed As bargaining with a terrorist nation for the release of hostages. While steadfastly insisting that officials Are doing All they can to learn the whereabouts of the nine Ameri cans and get them out White House spokesman mar. Lin Fitzwater sought wednesday to minimize the significance of statements from Iran suggesting a new interest in the Issue. In so doing he set Forth another ground Rule limiting . Diplomatic flexibility an insistence that the .government have direct communication from Iran or an authoritative source speaking for the government of revolutionary Leader the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. If Iran wants to talk to the United states the spokes Man said its leaders must Back up statements in speeches with authoritative communications to the United states. Fitzwater left no doubt that the uproar Over earlier . Dealings on hostages has made . Officials More wary than before. One of the lessons we Learned from that experience Iran Contra is that it s very difficult to have those kinds of discussions without them becoming arms for hostages or Ransom for hostages or negotiations for hostages he said. And that s Why we re not going to do it  As if to prove his Point Fitzwater scoffed at statements by Iran s parliament speaker  a Sfanjani indicating an interest in warming relations with Washington and suggesting a willingness to Deal on the hostages. We frankly Don t know what they re trying to say Fitzwater said. It s their pattern to make these kinds of claims and Hope somebody bites and you will recall we went through this a year  the release of 52 american hostages from Iran nearly 1981 was brought about at least in part by a . Deal to turn Over to an International tribunal at least $3 billion in Frozen iranian assets. Reagan signed an executive order seeking to enforce the assets agreement that then president Carter made with Iran although officials of the new administration said they would not have signed such an agreement. Asked wednesday if the administration was ruling out just such an arrangement Fitzwater said we Don t link assets to hostages and no  the state department spokesman Charles red Man said freeing the nine hostages was not subject to bartering with Iran Over Frozen assets. This is a proposal that has been surfaced and Resur faced Many times Over the past two years and each time we have noted that there can be no connection Between the hostages and Iran s claim in International claims tribunal the Hague Redman said. The associated press Khomeini decision signals failure of militant islam by almost any Standard it was a remarkable statement. In the equivalent of a fireside Chat except that it was read for him by a radio announcer the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in effect told the Irani an nation last week that it had lost the War with Iraq and must now turn its attention to salvaging what is left of the decade old revolution he brought about. Iran s decision to seek a cease fire in the eight Yea War under the same . Resolution that it had rejected for a year was not just an admission of defeat. The fact that it was announced by Khomeini the supreme Leader was even More telling. He is after All the Man who overthrew the Shah of Iran established an islamic Republic for All to see and with it firmly in place challenged the world. It Means the Model has failed said Nezar Hardoon Iraq s Deputy foreign minister. It will be devastating for the whole islamic fundamentalist phenomenon in the re Gion. They have to explain Why it  the Ayatollah s statement was filled with the rhetoric for which he is known he spoke of world Devou res and Reagan s insane actions As Well As the satanic attacks of  but such phrases appeared to serve As a mask for the critical Point his seeming acknowledgement that his quest to spread fundamentalist ideology throughout the Region was Over. And head fitted that it Hurt. I know it is hard for you but thenis it not hard for your old father he said. The Strain presented a rare Side of Khomeini that of vulnerable and Defeated Leader a Man of dignity who asked his compatriots to accept that defeat is the will of god. He went on to ask his people not to question the decision to seek peace even though Iran had vowed for years to score a decisive military Victory and to replace the secular government of president Saddam Hussein of Iraq with islamic fundamentalist Rule. From the Start of the Iran Iraq War in 1980, it has been obvious that the conflict juxtaposed not just two warring armies but two different ideas of , a socialist moslem state that nurtures an Active hostility to Radical religious and sectarian movements of any kind found itself threatened with a neighbouring Power whose Mission was twofold to dismantle every vestige of secularism and westernization and to construct a religious state and Export that Ideal elsewhere. The iranian islamic revolution could not live in isolation the Ayatollah and his lieutenants often said unless others adopted its Model Iran was doomed. Saudi Arabia and other monarchies in the persian Gulf that have adopted a Western economic system beneath a veneer of islamic Rule found Iran s mullahs challenging the religious legitimacy of their governments. V Stop inthe name of humanity. Beside i m losing our dear nation the True struggle for islamic values fully realizes that struggle is not compatible with seeking a comfortable life the Ayatollah said. His vision stemmed from interpreting islam As an ideology requiring followers to shed All ties to both East and West and plunge its societies into the strictest adherence to koranic Law. Most arabs interpreted this As aride Back into the 19th Century. But the iranians were certain the message would spread because of two factors. One was the existence in the Region of a Large Pool of shiite moslem who share a spiritual Affinity with iranian shiites. The second was the revolutionary message of Iran that appealed to the disinherited those who under the Banner of repressed aspirations wanted to overthrow corrupt monarchies and to redress an unfair distribution of Oil wealth. Although these constituencies exist Iran overestimated their anger commitment and ability to meet the Challenge. In fact most Arab shiites viewed the chaos of the revolution in Iran As a catastrophe. It is the beginning of the end for militant islam said Ahmad Abdelgalil an egyptian Diplomat Here. Fundamentalists in the Region had two sources of support. Morally they looked upon Iran s Defiance of the world and its Success in the War As an inspiration for their own movements and they took Money from the iranians to fund their  both he said have now  Iran also underestimated the tenacity of Iraq and the degree of support Iraq would receive from other Arab countries More than $50 billion since 1982, according to various Arab and Western officials. It shows that most arabs regarded the iranian threat As much More menacing than the israeli threat said a palestinian official. All the Arab Aid to Egypt Syria Jordan and the palestinians in 40 years of War against Israel is a fraction of the Aid the have Given Iraq in Only six  finally iranian leaders took the Devotion of their people for granted. In eight years of War Iran has fought largely with an army of volunteers supporters of the Ayatollah. The iraqis never depended on Fer Vor said a Western envoy people in Iraq go to the front because they get shot if they Don  the new York times