The Storm over the Shah

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In Washington, Jimmy Carter responded to Khomeini's sharpening of the war of nerves with a series of escalated warnings of his own. To focus most of his attention on the crisis, the President canceled two political trips: one a quickie visit to the Northwest, the other a four-day cross-country swing. He also scaled down his plans for his formal announcement of candidacy this week. Instead of the extravaganza originally planned, he will probably make a low-key speech from the Oval Office, then briefly drop by a fund-raising dinner in Washington.

To keep Americans' tempers from fraying further, and to demonstrate to the world that the U.S. public was solidly behind him, Carter last week made a considarable display of firmness. At breakfast Tuesday with congressional leaders, he declared that the U.S. was interested in a peaceful solution—but not at any price.

According to Louisiana Senator Bennett Johnston, Carter told them that "the honor of the country comes first, before the lives of the hostages." Johnston reported that Carter then warned darkly: "Simply by releasing the hostages the slate is not wiped clean." Some participants interpreted this as a threat of military action, but White House aides denied it. Said one: "The President was merely stating the obvious. Any fool knows that an incident like this will affect relationships after the hostages are released."

At midweek, Carter decided to speak directly to the American people by holding his first news conference since the Tehran embassy was seized. Because the 30-min. appearance before reporters and TV cameras in the East Room was a calculated risk, he prepared himself with special care. He spent a whole afternoon reviewing the fine points of U.S. policy on Iran with National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski and Secretary of State Vance and fielding practice questions—about 25 in all — thrown at him by aides. Former Imagemaker Jerry Rafshoon rehearsed Carter on the brief speech that would open the news conference.

The result was one of Carter's best performances. His unsmiling face looked pale without the makeup he usually wears before TV cameras, his eyelids sagged with fatigue and his hands gripped the lectern tightly. But he spoke in determined and sometimes angry tones, projecting with considerable success the sense of leadership that he has often seemed to lack.

The President sternly accused Iran of violating standards of human behavior and international law in holding the hostages and warned of "grave consequences" if any are harmed. He vowed that the U.S. "will never yield to blackmail or international terrorism." Said he: "There are some conditions, prices, for the hostages that this country will not pay." Responding to a question about the debate that has already begun over whether he (hould have allowed the Shah to enter the U.S. in the first place, Carter stoutly declared that he had "no regrets and no apologies."