FOCUS ON THE MEDIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000403460001-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 12, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 6, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000403460001-7
... _-I
HUMAN EVENTS
6 December 1986
Focus on the
Media
By CLIFF KINCAID
Media Ignore Soviet
Contacts with Iran
As if the disclosures of the President's Iran initi-
ative weren't causing enough problems for the
Administration, the Washington Post on Novem-
ber 19 published -a story about CIA operations in-
volvin Iran. Not surprisingly, the story was written
by Bob Woodward, the former Watergate reporter
who now specializes in exposing U.S. intelligence
Ctivities.
Tile 26th paragraph of the 28-paragraph story
said, A CIA memo of May 17 1985, saying that the
United States was lagging behind the Soviets in
cultivating Iranian contacts for a post-Khomeini
era, was apparently one of the first actions that led
to Reagan's decision to begin secret overt res to
the Iranians and eventually to ship th m arms this
year. '
Why was this explosive bit of information so far
down in the story?
The information was preceded by Woodward's
statement that Soviet operations in Iran suffered a
major blow in 1983 when the Communist party of
Iran was outlawed. its members arrested, and a
number of Soviet KGB agents expelled from the
country. Woodward said this resulted from infor-
mation provided to Khomeini by the CIA and ob.
tained from a KGB defector who had been based in
Teheran.
What Woodward doesn't point out is that since
then, Soviet-Iranian relations have greatly im-
proved and that the May 17, 1985, CIA memo is ob-
viously correct.
The Soviets have an initial advantage over the
U,S due to the fact that they have an embassy in
Teheran and we don't. An embassy can serve as a
base of operations for espionage and intelligence
activities.
Moreover, diplomatic activities involving the two
countries are increasing. One Administration of-
ficial told me that "eyebrows were raised" in
Washington this year when a series of middle- and
upper-level diplomatic exchanges took place. For
example, the Soviet deputy foreign minister visited
Iran in February, and the Iranian deputy foreign
minister visited Moscow in August.
Foreign Report, a Publication of the Economist
of London, says negotiations are under way that
could result in the resumption of Iranian natural
gas exports to the Soviet Union. Soviet President
Andrei Gromyko has promised the Khomeini
government that Soviet technicians will return to
the country to work on a major electricity project.
They were withdrawn in 1985 on the grounds that
they were endangered by the fighting in the
Iran-Iraq war.
The Soviets are the major arms suppliers of Iraq
in that war, but Administration sources report that
the Soviets have also made some shipments to
Iran, and that the Soviet-bloc countries have sup-
plied some weapons to the Khomeini regime.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000403460001-7