2 Israelis in Lebanon Were to Be Freed in Iran Deal, Shamir Says
Two Israeli soldiers captured in Lebanon were to be freed in the U.S. arms-to-Iran deal and they would have been released if the accord had remained secret, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir said Monday.
“If there had not been any leaks and if the affair had not exploded, we could have got to the kidnaped soldiers because it was included in our agreement with the Americans,” Shamir told reporters during a meeting of leaders of his right-wing Likud Bloc.
Asked if there was still a chance of securing the soldiers’ release, he said, “It is now impossible to talk about it.”
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, Shamir’s coalition partner, said earlier that Israel would ship arms to Iran again if Washington asked for help.
Peres, prime minister at the time of the arms sales to Tehran, was asked on state radio whether in light of the trouble it had caused President Reagan and Israel he would do it again. “My answer is an unflinching yes,” Peres replied. “The United States has helped us, too.”
Peres has repeatedly said that Israel acted as a middle man, shipping U.S. arms to Iran, to secure the release of American hostages. But he had never made any mention of attempts to free Israeli soldiers in Lebanon.
Three U.S. hostages held by Iranian-backed Shia Muslim fundamentalists in Lebanon were released after American arms arrived in Iran.
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