76. Letter From President Carter to Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman1
In the aftermath of our attempt to rescue our hostages in Iran, I want to restate the gratitude of my government and the American people for your having made available facilities crucial to the conduct of the mission.2 I also want to reiterate the assurances on security conveyed in my letter of March 29, 1980.3 These assurances were [Page 257] designed specifically to assist you in limiting adverse consequences to Oman from the rescue mission.4 I encourage your Foreign Minister to consult with my Ambassador about steps we might take for this purpose. We will work with you and with other friendly leaders in the region to help blunt any political attacks against Oman inspired by Iran and encouraged by the Soviet Union.
The rescue mission, had it succeeded, would have soon reduced dramatically the tensions between the United States and Iran, and it would have allowed Iranians and other peoples in the region to focus more clearly on the serious threat to the region created by the projection of Soviet power and influence. The potential benefits of such a mission were far too great to allow me not to take the risks it entailed. Your country and others in the region would have benefited from the increased stability and reduction of tension. Because the mission did not succeed, however, we must work together to limit the adverse consequences and to persevere toward our larger common objective.
As you are doubtless aware, your country was not the only one which was transited by American aircraft in an effort to carry out this humanitarian rescue mission. I had to consider the operational security of our forces above all. To assure that responsibility for the mission would be seen to rest solely on the United States, my government engaged in no prior consultations with any of its closest friends and allies at any level about it. This was a unique situation arising from extraordinary circumstances. It is no reflection upon the trust and confidence I hold in you. Indeed, my government has shared with you the fact of our recent activities with regard to Afghanistan, and it is my hope that collaboration between our governments on that project can go forward.
If you believe it would be useful, I am prepared to send a personal emissary to elaborate further my commitment to our relationship, to consult you on steps to advance it, and to explain the details of the rescue mission.5
I realize the heavy burden which I have forced you to share with me in seeking greater prospects for peace and security in the region. A relationship of trust and the closest cooperation between us continue to be of the highest importance to me.
Sincerely,
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Defense/Security, Ermarth, Box 8, Oman: 4–8/80. No classification marking.↩
- An unknown hand put brackets around the phrase “I want to restate the gratitude of my government and the American people for your having made available facilities crucial to the conduct of the mission.”↩
- See footnote 2, Document 66.↩
- An unknown hand put brackets around this sentence.↩
- Carter selected Habib as his personal envoy to the Sultan “in order to elaborate further his commitment to our relationship, to consult on steps to advance it, and to explain the background to the rescue mission.” (Telegram 121049 to Muscat, May 8; Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Country File, Box 58, Oman: 4–9/80)↩