306. Message From the Swiss Ambassador to Iran (Lang) to the Department of State1
I was called in last night at 11:30 and asked to give immediate assistance in the following matter:
1. The Iranian government attaches the utmost importance to the state of the ex-Shah.
2. If possible, get specifics on health situation and bulletin.
3. Ghotbzadeh (GH) stresses that it is of paramount importance for the Iranian government to be informed—through GH—before the mass media, if the ex-Shah were to die or be on the verge of dying. The Iranian government would have to take domestic measures and not be caught short to the benefit of others. This matter is of some importance with respect to the hostage issue.
[Page 834]4. In conclusion, GH stressed once again the importance of this point and apologized for calling me so late.
5. Personal observation: Yesterday at 4:00 pm Kaiser and myself had seen GH but he said nothing about this. But at 11:30 pm I was instructed by GH’s secretariat to call him at a telephone number unknown to me where background noises indicated that some meeting or some conversation was going on.
6. Anything may happen. I refused to believe in the most positive hypothesis which would be too good to happen, that of a gesture of clemency on the occasion of the death of X. Less positive though interesting would be the pretext to the matter of the hostages thanks to the emotion generated by the disappearance of the tyrant. Remembering a conversation with B&V, I would say that it could also be a desire to have Iranian officials issue an official death certificate. Indeed the ex-Shah is supposed to enjoy such a “baraka” (escaping all attempts in 1953, leaving Iran without any problems in 1979, etc.) that he must have some evil powers. Therefore, in a mix of religion and superstition, it is indispensable to have evidence of his death and of his immediate burial so that he cannot come back to haunt Iran. This may sound irrational, but B states that he has observed this aspect in several of his interlocutors and this helps explain the determination to have the ex-Shah returned to Iran alive so that his burial may be supervised and that he may no longer harm the country.
Finally, the most prosaic explanation albeit the most likely one, is that the government wants to use the death of the former sovereign to the utmost and not let the fundamentalists or anyone else you may think of, benefit from it.
Lang
[Omitted here is a follow-up to the message.]
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Country File, Box 33, Iran Update 7/80. Confidential. The document was found attached to a July 3 briefing memorandum from Saunders to Muskie, Christopher, and Newsom entitled “Iran Update—July 4.” Also found attached was the June 30 message from Lang to the Department of State; see Document 305.↩