Rafsanjani Says U.S. Tried New Contact
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NICOSIA, Cyprus — Hashemi Rafsanjani, Speaker of Iran’s Parliament, said Wednesday that an intermediary for the United States approached Iranian leaders “a few days ago” and urged them to contact President Reagan.
Tehran radio said Rafsanjani “referred to the problem of (former U.S. National Security Adviser Robert C.) McFarlane” in a speech.
The radio report said: “Referring to the disgraceful U.S. adventure and the problem of McFarlane, the Speaker said all these things stem from the power of Islam and only a few days ago these people, once again, through a person who fully revealed his identity, contacted us and gave us a telephone number, saying that with that telephone number ‘you could speak to Mr. Reagan.’ ”
The report did not say whether Rafsanjani was the person contacted by the unidentified intermediary. The state-run radio gave no indication of Iran’s response.
Secretary of State George P. Shultz dismissed the report as nonsense during a television interview Wednesday night.
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