Six Iran Consular Officials Escorted Out of W. Berlin

Six Iranian consular officials left West Berlin today under heavy police escort, ordered out of the divided city by the Western Allies because of fears that the Iranians were planning terrorist attacks.

Reporters saw the six Iranians get into two sedans shortly after 3:30 p.m. The Western Allies--France, Britain and the United States--on Saturday ordered the diplomats’ expulsion.

Escorted by two police cars and two police vans, the Iranians drove to the Staaken border point for the four-hour trip to Tehran’s consulate in Hamburg along a transit highway cutting through East German territory. The Berlin police escort ended at the border point.

Nine Officials Affected

An Iranian consulate employee said earlier today that eight consular officials were affected by the expulsion order. But later, consular officials said that nine were affected--the six who left today; General Consul Djavad Anssari, who is in Tehran, and two consular officials who left Berlin earlier.

Seyed Mohammad Taghavi Ahrami, the second secretary of the Iranian Embassy in Bonn, was staying in the West Berlin consulate building along with an Iranian janitor, the Iranian officials told reporters. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

Thomas Homan, spokesman for the U.S. diplomatic mission in West Berlin, declined to specify the deadline for the diplomats to leave the city, although he confirmed one existed.

Suspicion of Terrorism

Allied sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the expulsion order was based on the suspicion the Iranians may been been plotting terrorist actions.

Allied officials said upon issuing the expulsion order that the move was being taken “in the interests of public order and security.”

In practice, the order will apply only to West Berlin and will prevent East Berlin-based Iranian diplomats from entering the Western sector of this divided city.

Although Berlin is an international, Allied-controlled city, Britain, France and the United States have little say over Soviet-administered East Berlin.

Berlin was divided into east and west after Nazi Germany was defeated in World War II.