DATE=11/3/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IRAN HOSTAGES (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-255783
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In Iran, preparations are underway for a rally
Thursday to mark the 20th anniversary of the seizure
of the U-S embassy in Tehran. On that day, student
militants stormed the embassy grounds and held hostage
52 American diplomats for 444 days. The incident
caused a rupture in diplomatic relations between the
two countries that has yet to be mended, despite calls
for moderation by some of Iran's current leaders and a
counter-rally Wednesday by moderates. Correspondent
Scott Bobb has this report from our Middle East Bureau
in Cairo.
TEXT: The Council that organizes important rallies in
Iran urged supporters to turn out in large numbers for
Thursday's traditional rally outside the former U-S
embassy. It said attending the rally will show that
what it called the struggle against America is
strategic and in the national interest. The building,
frequently called "the nest of spies", is now used to
train Revolutionary Guards.
Iran's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei Wednesday said those who support a softening
of Iran's hardline position against the U-S government
are naive, if not treasonous. And he rejected recent
calls for dialogue by U-S diplomats as an enemy trying
to act like a friend.
Ayatollah Khamenei's remarks came as several hundred
moderates rallied at Tehran University. They listened
to former students who led the embassy takeover 20
years ago call for an easing of the hostile relations
between the two governments. The moderates support
Iranian President Mohamed Khatami, who last January
called for a break in the wall of mistrust and urged a
dialogue between civilizations. Since then Iran has
mended ties with most of its neighbors in the Gulf
region and President Khatami in recent months has
visited Germany and France.
There have been academic and sports exchanges between
Iran and the United States, but official ties remain
frozen. U-S officials have called for a face-to-face
dialogue between the two governments on ending the
rift. They say the Iranian government, however, must
stop supporting violent groups in the Middle East, end
its opposition to the Middle East peace process, and
prove it is not building weapons of mass destruction.
The Iranian government rejects these conditions. It
wants the U-S government to release frozen Iranian
assets in the United States, end economic sanctions
against Iran, and ease opposition to a proposed oil
and gas pipeline across Iran from the Caspian Sea.
///REST OPT.///
The assault on the U-S embassy in Tehran and the
seizure of the hostages climaxed the revolution which
overthrew a 25 hundred year-old monarchy and brought
an Islamic state under the guidance of the late
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Despite the lack of
official relations, however, individual ties between
Iranians and Americans have survived. The trickle of
American tourists who visit Iran find most Iranians
friendly on a personal level. In addition, many
Iranians have relatives in the United States, a large
number of whom have become U-S citizens. (SIGNED)
NEB/SB/PT
NEB/WTW/
03-Nov-1999 15:53 PM EDT (03-Nov-1999 2053 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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