The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2021

48 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2021 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL even before we do, we are ready at any time to send the deputy secretary to meet with Khomeini’s representative.” Porter asked, “Mr. Ambassador, does your colleague say any- thing about why the Iranians are now ready to settle?” “He mentions several reasons. He thinks Beheshti had a lot to do with convincing Khomeini. Beheshti is now confident that he and his allies control all centers of power in Iran. They have made the president into a figurehead. They have defeated challengers on both left and right flanks. With our covert help, Beheshti has crushed the leftist Mojaahedin- e-Khalq. From this position of strength, holding the hostages no longer serves any purpose. The death of the Shah in Egypt didn’t hurt either.” After the ambassador left, Porter and the deputy secretary stayed with the Secretary. Ever since Porter had briefed them on Nilufar’s situation, the two men remained concerned for her safety. “Gentlemen, it’s perhaps too early to open the champagne, but I think we’re finally on a good track,” the Secretary said. “Alan, we owe a lot to you and to Ms. Hart- man. You urged us to keep her there, and you were right. We’ll probably never know for sure, but it seems to me our helping Beheshti against the Mojaahedin went a long way in his persuad- ing Khomeini to settle.” The Secretary continued, “And what about Ms. Hartman? She’s a very brave young woman, and very few people will ever know what she did and at what risk. Should we bring her home? When she comes back, I hope she stays in the Foreign Service, although I don’t know what job can match what she’s doing now.” Porter told his bosses, “If she wants to come out, of course we will agree. But if she does, we’ll have to keep her out of sight for a while. If she surfaces somewhere else as an American diplomat, the Iranians will realize they’ve been duped and, at the very least, will retaliate against her family. “I prefer she stays, at least through the hostage negotia- tions, which I predict will be long and difficult. Just because the Iranians have finally set out conditions we find reasonable doesn’t mean there won’t be hard bargaining ahead. They will squeeze out any advantage they can. Once our people are free, they’ve lost their leverage.” No one in the room stated the obvious—that with American elections only two months away, the president needed a success. For the Secretary and his deputy, their jobs depended on the president’s winning a second term in November. … Tehran, January 1981 On the morning of Jan. 19, Beheshti called Nilufar into his office. “Ms. Rastbin, I need your help with a very sensitive matter. You’ve certainly been following the news about the American hostages. Tonight, an Algerian medical team will visit them, and tomorrow evening, God willing, they will leave, and we will be rid of them.” Nilufar knew an order was com- ing, this time not even disguised as a request. “Sir, how can I help?” “The release has to go smoothly. The Algerian mediators will be visiting me this afternoon, and I want you to interpret at our meeting. We need to reassure them there will be no last- minute incidents and that they and the Americans will leave safely tomorrow. Between you and me, I will breathe a huge sigh of relief once those Air Algérie planes have cleared Iranian airspace.” “We’ve done all we can to ensure things will go well at the air- port. But you never know. Something can always go wrong. Those damn students are unpredictable. One or two of them could do something stupid and foul up the whole process.” Nilufar said nothing. She knew that for more than a year Beheshti had been the controlling power behind the students. They had served his purpose, and tomorrow he would be fin- ished with them. “Tomorrow evening I need you to be at Mehrabad to make sure all goes smoothly. The Imam usually doesn’t give direct orders, but he’s made himself perfectly clear: All the hostages are to fly out tomorrow, and nothing can interfere with their leaving.” “Of course. I’ll be there, sir. Do you have any hints something might go wrong?” “I don’t, but I’m not reassured. I worry about Iraani-baazi (disorder). I worry about a hotheaded student getting into a fight with an angry hostage. I also worry about deliberate sabotage from some agent of the leftists who would love to embarrass us in front of the world press. Their dream is a riot at the airport, some hostage getting shot, and the whole deal collapsing. They have Nilufar said to herself, “These akhunds are amazing. Shameless hypocrites.”