Administration Blocks Ex-Hostages' Bid for Damages from Iran
The Algiers Accords, an agreement codified as the 1981 deal between the United States and Iran under which the hostages were released, allowed billions of dollars in Iranian assets to be unfrozen, and an arbitration tribunal to be established in the Netherlands to settle claims between the two countries.
Condoleeza Rice has announced a $75 million plan to bolster democracy in Iran and to foster opposition to the theocracy that controls the country. The hostages say Rice's program violates the prohibition on interfering in Iran's affairs; Iran has also filed a complaint with the United States through the Swiss Embassy, which handles U.S. interests in Tehran.
"This administration has not been shy about breaking international agreements," said Barry Rosen, who was press attache at the U.S. Embassy and who now heads the Afghanistan Education Project at Columbia University's Teachers College. "The administration appears to be in contradiction of itself. It seems to me the Algiers Accords should be dead and buried."
This article, written by Glenn Kessler, appeared in the March 19th, 2006 publication of The Washington Post.
Published Monday, Mar. 20, 2006