Did Iran Help the Hijackers?

The U.S. thinks so, but does not know how it can retaliate

The C-141 transport plane looked almost ghostly as it broke through the early morning mist and touched down at Andrews Air Force Base last week. For the fifth time since April 1983, a military aircraft was bringing home the bodies of innocent Americans slain by Middle East terrorists. When the flag-draped coffins of Charles Hegna, 50, and William Stanford, 52, were carried by an honor guard into the cavernous hangar for a memorial service, there were tears of sorrow and frustration in the eyes of many in the crowd of 150 Government officials and family members. Vice President George Bush delivered a brief and angry eulogy for the two officials from the U.S. Agency for International Development killed two weeks ago in the brutal hijacking of a Kuwait Airways flight bound for Karachi. "We shall know their murderers with the long memories of those who believe in patient but certain justice," said Bush. "Civilized nations can and must resist terrorism and demand that governments have the decency to bring terrorists to justice."

It was a clear message to the regime of Iran's Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini that the episode at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran had still not been resolved as far as the Reagan Administration was concerned. The six-day hijacking had come to a dramatic end early last week when three Iranian security officers disguised as a physician and cleaning crew slipped on board the grounded Airbus and rescued nine hostages, including two Americans, who were found tied to their seats. Four Arabic-speaking hijackers, thought to be linked to the same pro-Khomeini Lebanese Shi'ite terrorist groups that some U.S. officials believe carried out murderous bombing attacks on the U.S. embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut, were arrested without a struggle in the midnight raid.

But doubts persisted in Washington about Iranian complicity in the crime and whether the U.S. could, or should, take retaliatory measures. Secretary of State George Shultz called on the U.S. to pursue an "active defense" against terrorism. Said Shultz: "I think strong action, if we can identify [that action] precisely and execute it successfully, will command broad public support." Once the two American survivors, Businessman John Costa, 50, of New York City and Auditor Charles Kapar, 57, of Arlington, Va., were out of Tehran, the White House issued a toughly worded statement, charging that Iran had "clearly encouraged extreme behavior by the hijackers."