Storm over the Alliance

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would, among other things, freeze $6 billion of Iranian funds deposited in West German banks, cut off all shipments of technology and spare parts to Iranian industry and further pare the already skeletal West German diplomatic mission in Tehran. Remarked a senior chancellery official in Bonn: "This should go a long way toward backing the U.S. even if our other West European allies do not necessarily follow." Britain is ready to join the West Germans in imposing trading sanctions and further reducing its embassy staff.

Though allied leaders were falling into line, they were doing so primarily to demonstrate backing for the U.S., not because they were convinced of the wisdom of Carter's policy. The nine members of the European Community and Japan recalled temporarily their ambassadors from Tehran, though this was far from completely breaking relations as Washington had done. A senior foreign ministry official in Bonn argued that Western diplomats in Tehran would help the U.S. work to free the hostages. He also warned that the Soviets would take advantage of the power vacuum: "We should not make room for them."

The French insist that it is also essential for Western officials to remain in Tehran to support Iranian moderates like Banisadr. The Italians feel that their diplomats in Iran are particularly useful because they supposedly have clout with Iranian radicals. Italy's President Alessandro Pertini supported persecuted Iranian students during the Shah's reign.

As the week went on, Moscow wasted little time exploiting the growing tensions in the alliance. The Kremlin warned West Europeans not to bow to U.S. pressure in such matters as modernizing NATO's tactical nuclear arsenal and boycotting this summer's Moscow Olympic Games. In Paris, Soviet Ambassador Stepan Chervonenko stated that unless the allies resist, they would be turned into "an instrument for America's global policy" and would allow the U.S. to "attain strategic objectives on the backs of others." When Bonn indicated that it would probably follow the U.S. lead and boycott the Olympics, the Soviet Ambassador to West Germany warned that such a decision would have "political consequences in the relations between the Federal Republic and the Soviet Union." Japan also announced its support of the boycott last week, which has been backed as well by Britain. With much of Western Europe staying away from the Moscow Games, it is almost certain that the French will also join the boycott.

To both France and West Germany, the Soviets offered a carrot along with the stick. Chervonenko warmly characterized Franco-Soviet relations as a "preferential friendship," while Soviet Communist Party Chief Leonid Brezhnev last week invited Helmut Schmidt to go to Moscow early this summer for a long delayed summit meeting. The invitation surprised Schmidt, who promptly phoned Carter, French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and other Western leaders to discuss Bonn's response to an overture clearly intended by the Soviets to split the allies. In view of the already existing tensions in the alliance, a chancellery aide in Bonn emphasized that Schmidt "is not going to rush into anything. We know full well what is at stake, and the last thing we want is to complicate matters for the alliance."

Washington's