Iranian Had Role in Hostage Crisis : Swiss Ignore U.S. Plea, OK Ex-Terrorist as Envoy

The government of Switzerland, ignoring strong objections from the United States, has agreed to accept as the new Iranian ambassador a one-time terrorist who interrogated U.S. diplomats during the long hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, the State Department said Friday.

“We consider it inappropriate for a leader of the Tehran hostage takers, who abused diplomatic immunities, to himself be accredited as an ambassador,” State Department spokeswoman Phyllis Oakley said.

Oakley said the United States complained to Switzerland several times before the Bern government accepted the appointment of Said Mohammed Hussein Malaek. He has been serving as ambassador since last month.

Represents U.S. Interests

The U.S.-Swiss dispute over Malaek is particularly sensitive because Switzerland has represented American interests in Iran since Washington and Tehran broke diplomatic relations during the hostage crisis, which began in 1979. Algeria represents Iranian interests in the United States.

However, Oakley said, “I think we’re not drawing any link” between the appointment and Switzerland’s status as U.S. representative in Iran. “We’ve been very satisfied with the representation of the Swiss for our interests in Tehran,” she said.

Oakley described Malaek as “one of the leaders of the Tehran hostage takers.” Another U.S. official said that he interrogated American diplomats who have since identified him.

Visa Refused

Iran has been trying to find an ambassadorial-level job for Malaek since July, 1984, when he was named to the Iranian mission to the United Nations. The United States refused to grant him a visa to enter this country, effectively torpedoing the appointment.

Iran then nominated Malaek as charge d’affaires in Britain, ambassador to Japan and ambassador to Canada. All three countries rejected his appointment.

“We went to the Swiss some months ago and told them he was a terrorist,” a State Department official said. “The Swiss replied that he had done nothing wrong for eight years and that they had already approved him” before receiving the U.S. protest.

Swiss Embassy spokesman Paul Widmer said that his government “did not have sufficient evidence” to reject Malaek.

Insufficient Evidence

U.S. officials said Malaek was assigned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry shortly after the U.S. Embassy hostages were released on Jan. 20, 1981. The officials said they did not know his specific assignments since the end of the hostage crisis.

A spokesman in Washington for the Iranian rebel group known as the Moujahedeen said that Malaek is “one of the (Ayatollah Ruhollah) Khomeini regime’s high-ranking terrorist-diplomats.”

The spokesman said Malaek was named ambassador to Switzerland earlier and was rejected by the Swiss government. Later, he was sent to Bern as a lower-ranking diplomat in the embassy, the spokesman said.

Last Nov. 13, the spokesman said, Malaek met in Geneva with French diplomats to discuss the status of French hostages held by pro-Iranian Islamic militants in Beirut. Two weeks later, one of the French hostages, television cameraman Jean-Louis Normandin, was released.