249. Summary of Conclusions of a Special Coordination Committee (Implementation) Meeting1
The meeting opened with a brief discussion of the situation between Iraq and Iran. There continue to be intermittent skirmishes but there is no sign that either side is engaged in a large-scale buildup or has made any commitment to extend the hostilities substantially. (S)
The State Department reported that our allies’ reaction to your imposition of sanctions has been cautious so far. The Europeans have come to realize, however, that what we are doing not only affects our relations with Iran or potentially their relations with Iran, but also will be an important factor in relations between the United States and Europe. The EC–9 Foreign Ministers have devoted their current discussion to the Iranian question and we understand that they will be withdrawing their Ambassador from Tehran for consultations. (S)
Treasury pointed out that it will be attending a large number of basically economic meetings with countries from all over the world in the next several weeks. They volunteered to take up the question of Iran and the Olympics as subsidiary themes in these meetings. Henry Owen added that he would be glad to do the same. State and Lloyd Cutler will provide talking points. (S)
The bulk of the discussion focused on a memo by Ben Civiletti posing issues arising out of your commitment to introduce legislation for claims against the Iranian Government.2 There was general agreement on a variety of issues including timing of actions to be taken, alternate means of settling claims, and the desirability of maintaining maximum executive branch flexibility. There was however significant disagreement among the agencies on whether you should seek authority to vest Iranian resources as part of the claims legislation. (Treasury underlined the impact this could have on the dollar abroad; Civiletti and Cutler saw a claims process without vesting authority as being empty.) In addition there are a number of factors that have to be considered in providing relief for the hostages. (S)
There seemed to be general agreement that legislation should be introduced to remove impediments to legal action against Iran resulting from jurisdictional limitation and the provisions of the Sovereign Immunities Act. There was much less agreement, however, on the [Page 676] means of settling hostage claims or providing other relief to the hostages, mainly because of the impact that action taken now would have on the negotiating situation. (S)
State, Defense and Treasury will prepare a memorandum for your decision on the issues that were not agreed upon; it will also brief you in more detail on the areas of agreement. (S)
An additional item was introduced by the Department of Justice concerning the procedures for dealing with the visa requests of non-immigrant Iranians in the United States. The questions here are mainly technical and can be settled between State and Justice. There are some more basic questions, however, including whether or not an Iranian married to an American citizen can claim “humanitarian need” in attempting to prolong his or her stay here in the United States. State and Justice will sort their problems out and get back to us quickly. If there is need for a decision by you on any of these issues we will forward the memorandum to you. (S)
Another issue relates to the status of some 213 Iranian military personnel who are studying in the United States and are not under the provisions of the FMS. Defense, State, and Justice are not willing to accept responsibility for locating these students and forcing them to leave the United States. In effect, they are in much the same position as any Iranian student here and their military status probably does not make them any more or less vulnerable to deportation. If they can avail themselves of the numerous remedies available in the INS procedure, it could be years before we could deport them. State and Defense will attempt to find a means of getting to them and preemptively moving them out of the country before they can become embroiled in the INS procedures. (S)
[Omitted here is material on the Olympics.]
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Middle East File, Box 100, Meetings File, 4/10/80 SCC re Iran. Secret; Outside the System.↩
- See Document 246. Civiletti’s memorandum has not been found.↩