Newspapers Report U.S.-Iran Contacts

NICOSIA, Cyprus--Arab newspapers reported recent high-level contacts between Iran and the United States, and said the exchanges may have been linked to David Jacobsen's release from captivity in Lebanon.

Arab diplomats, meanwhile, told The Associated Press that Jacobsen's release was connected to an internal power struggle in Iran. The 55-year-old American was freed Sunday after being held for 17 months by Islamic Jihad, a pro-Iranian Shiite Moslem group.

In Kuwait, the daily newspaper Al-Qabas said Jacobsen was freed as a result of U.S.-Iranian negotiations.

"The release of Jacobsen took place as a result of indirect U.S.-Iranian negotiations which were conducted through a third party as well as negotiations between [Anglican church envoy] Terry Waite and circles close to the kidnappers," unidentified sources were quoted as telling Al-Qabas.

The newspaper quoted U.S. and Arab sources in Paris as saying no more American hostages were expected to be freed before the Reagan administration meets demands presented by Islamic Jihad.

In Beirut, the pro-Syrian magazine Al-Shiraa said a U.S. envoy, former National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane, went to Tehran to discuss Iranian support for terrorist groups and that U.S. military spare parts were provided to encourage Tehran to cease such support.

The Washington Post carried a report today on the Al-Shirra article. The Post quoted McFarlane as "categorically" denying that he was in Tehran "last month."

A central figure in the case appeared to be Mehdi Hashemi, who had charge of spreading Iran's Islamic revolution to other nations. He is a brother of the son-in-law of Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri, the chosen successor of Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

An Arab diplomat who was formerly stationed in Iran said Hashemi had direct control over Islamic Jihad and other terror groups. The diplomat, like other Arab envoys interviewed by The Associated Press, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Iran's official news agency last week announced the arrest of Hashemi on charges of treason and murder.

Hashemi's opponents include Parliament Speaker Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and President Ali Khamenei.

Al-Shiraa quoted Hashemi's supporters as saying Khomeini had been unaware of the infighting. "[Khomeini] is still in bed and unable to perform any duties because of the severe heart attack he recently suffered," an unidentified Hashemi aide was quoted as saying.

Hashemi's supporters were quoted by Al-Shiraa as saying Iranian officials demanded in the talks with McFarlane that the United States halt military, financial and political aid to Iraq, which has been at war with Iran for six years.

Iran also demanded spare parts for U.S.-made warplanes, tanks and other hardware, the weekly said. It quoted Hashemi's supporters as saying the United States provided the spare parts, and that the supplies helped boost the performance of Iran's air force.

Al-Shiraa also said Rafsanjani's supporters claim Hashemi was responsible for smuggling weapons into Saudi Arabia aboard an Iranian airliner carrying pilgrims to Mecca earlier this year. The same sources accused Hashemi of engineering the kidnapping of Syrian Consul Iyad Mahmoud in Tehran last month.

The Arab diplomat said Hashemi had been angry at Syria for pressuring Iran to free hostages. However, the kidnapping of the Syrian envoy only increased the pressure because Iran was embarrassed by the exposure of its ties to the kidnappers.

Al-Qabas quoted sources as saying the Americans wanted the U.S. hostages freed before yesterday's elections in the United States.