Foreign Relations, 1977–1980, Volume XXIII, Mexico, Cuba, and the Caribbean

169. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Mexico¹

Washington, January 8, 1980, 2203Z

5799. Subject: Letter to Mexican President.

1. Please transmit the following letter to President Lopez Portillo as soon as possible.

2. Begin text. Dear Mr. President: Please accept my sincere congratulations on Mexico’s election to the United Nations Security Council. Mexico’s stature in the United Nations is reflected in the virtually unanimous vote in the General Assembly in support of Mexico’s candidacy.²

3. I can assure you that Ambassador McHenry looks forward to strengthening cordial and cooperative relations with his Mexican colleague. It is my hope and expectation that our two delegations will find much common ground and shared interests in carrying out their important responsibilities.

4. Mexico assumes its place on the Council at a time when grave issues of the highest importance are before it. Yesterday a majority of the Council, including Mexico, voted to deplore the Soviet Union’s military invasion of Afghanistan. The Council continues to be faced with Iran’s continued defiance of the unanimous call of the international community for the release of American hostages, which threatens the peace and the norms of international behavior by which diplomacy is conducted.

5. I wish to take this opportunity, Mr. President, to address the continued detention of hostages in Iran, which you, in your letter of December 8, 1979, characterized as uncivilized and medieval, and which Mexico has condemned in every forum and on every occasion.³

6. Iran’s dispute is not solely with the United States of America, but with the international community. Despite the restraint shown by the world community, the authorities in Iran continue to hold our citizens prisoner in violation of international law, basic human rights, and elementary morality. They have refused to comply with the order of the International Court of Justice of December 15.⁴ They continue to defy Security Council Resolution 457 adopted over one month ago on December 4, as well as Security Council Resolution 461 adopted on December 31.⁵ Meanwhile 50 of our innocent citizens are subjected to intolerable stress which the World Court itself warned could lead to irreparable harm to the individuals.

7. Secretary General Waldheim’s report to the Security Council illustrates the extent of Iranian inflexibility and intransigence. Neither the Ayatollah Khomeini nor those occupying the Embassy compound were willing to see the Secretary General on his mission of mediation; nor was Secretary General Waldheim allowed to visit the hostages. His mission was marred by hostile demonstrations throughout and officially-inspired propaganda against the United Nations and against the Secretary General personally.

8. I believe it is essential that the Security Council act without delay on the course it set for itself in its resolution of December 31 which stated that if the American captives were not freed by January 7, it would meet to adopt effective measures under Articles 39 and 41 of the UN Charter.⁶ Accordingly, the United States of America yesterday proposed a resolution in the Security Council which would impose limited but significant economic sanctions on Iran.

9. We respect the strong stand you and your government have taken on this issue in other forums and on other occasions and know of Mexico’s devotion to traditional international legal norms and principles.

10. I hope I will have your firm support on this resolution. The people of the United States of America would consider it an act of friendship from a valued neighbor if Mexico would join us and other members of the international community in upholding the earlier decisions of the World Court and the Security Council in defense of standards that protect us all.

Sincerely,

Jimmy Carter

11. Signed original letter being sent by pouch.

12. As soon as text has been delivered to President Lopez Portillo, please call Ambassador McHenry’s office at USUN to inform Ambassador Krueger, so that he can pass a copy to Foreign Minister Castaneda.⁷

Vance

1. Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800014–0932. Confidential; Flash. Drafted by Bowdler and Krueger; cleared by Maynes, Seitz, and Denend; approved by Vance. Repeated for information to USUN.
2. Mexico was elected to the UN Security Council on January 7, after Cuba and Colombia withdrew their candidacies. (Telegram 59 from USUN, January 7; National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800014–0991)
3. See Document 167.
4. On December 15, 1979, the International Court of Justice ordered Iran to release all American hostages held at the Embassy. (Department of State Bulletin, February 1980, pp. 49–53)
5. UNSC Resolution 457, which was adopted unanimously on December 4, 1979, called on Iran to release immediately American Embassy personnel and allow them to leave the country. UNSC Resolution 461, adopted on December 31, reaffirmed Resolution 457. (Yearbook of the United Nations, 1979, pp. 311–312)
6. Article 39 states that the UN Security Council can determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of peace, or act of aggression, and can apply appropriate sanctions. Article 41 dictates sanctions, not involving armed forces, that the Security Council can impose.
7. Lopez Portillo responded to Carter’s letter by telephone at 11:02 a.m. on January 17, stating that he “shared the American sense of outrage over Iran” and “appreciated” the actions taken by the United States following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. (Department of State, S/MEX Files, Lot 81D110, Box 1, Carter/Lopez Portillo Contact, 1/1980) Mexico, however, abstained in the vote on the January 13 UN resolution that would have imposed sanctions on Iran.