Page 10-Tuesday, May 20, 1980-The Michigan Daily
Iran stages show of strength
From UPI and AP
TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian warships,
aircraft and hovercraft conducted
exercises yesterday near the Straits of
Hormuz, the strategic entrance to the
Persian Gulf, in the largest show of
strength since the ouster of the shah.
The exercises followed reports in.
Iranian newspapers that unidentified
"flying objects" emitting "pulsating
lights" and unidentified Mirage jets
were sighted over the Iranian coastal
area off the Persian Gulf - the route to
Mideast oil - and that U.S. Navy ships
in the area had launched their own
maneuvers "to frighten Iran."
FOREIGN MINISTER Sadegh Ghot-
bzadeh, at a conference of Islamic
nations in Islamabad, Pakistan, called
for a "collective condemnation" of the
United States and the Soviet Union for
aggression against Moslem nations. He
charged aircraft from the U.S. carriers
Nimitz and Coral Sea "in the Arabian
Sea were to be used in order to establish
air and ground supremacy."
There was no immediate reaction to
the military maneuvers from
Washington.
Both the United States and Iran
denied a French news agency report
that a plan to free the U.S. hostages in
three stages is being readied for sub-
mission to Iran's Parliament on June 5.
A STATE Department spokesman
said, "If there is one (a plan), it was
negotiated without American input to
my knowledge." An Iranian Foreign
Ministry official also denied the report.
Ghotbzadeh also scoffed at economic
sanctions imposed by the United States
and Europe.
"Within four days of the U.S. announ-
cement of its sanctions against Iran,
1,200 American companies contacted
our representatives abroad, indicating
that they do not bind themselves with
their government's decision and are
willing to deal with Iran themselves,"
Ghotbzadeh told newsmen.
"IN EUROPE it is the same. They do
not care about the decisions of their
governments. They only care about
their pocketbooks," he said.
The 48-hour Iranian exercises were
witnessed by President Abolhassan
Bani-Sadr from the deck of a warship,
Tehran radio reported. He was accom-
panied by the joint chiefs of staff in the
biggest such military exercise since the
revolution in the winter of 1979 that
ousted Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi,
the radio said.
The Iranian Navy, said to have 30,000
men, is equipped mainly with U.S. sup-
plies, except for one destroyer supplied
by Britain.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini told
commanders of the revolutionary
guard Sunday "Iran is not
Afghanistan" and the United States
should not attempt what the Soviet
Union had done in that neighboring
country.
Khomeini told the commanders not to
heed rumors of a possible U.S.-led coup
in the wake of the aborted U.S. Mission
last month to rescue the 53 American
hostages, who spent their 198th day as
captives of the Moslem militants.
I
Over 60,000 Cubans
enter U.S., in May
From UPland AP
KEY WEST, Fla.-Cuban refugee
arrivals yesterday surpassed the 60,000
forecast for this month by ad-
ministration officials and a Coast
Guard officer predicted the number
could grow by another 30,000to 50,000.
At noon, the number of refugees
evacuated by boat from Cuba stood at
60,940. The number of yesterday's
arrivals totaled 3,473 in 45 boats.
U.S. REFUGEE Coordinator Victor
Palmieri told congressional commit-
tees earlier this month that 50,000 to
60,000 arrivals were expected by May
31.
WHAT
COMBINATION
The U.S. Coast Guard charged that
Cuba is "creating a disaster" by sen-
ding boats overloaded with refugees in-
to rough seas.
"It's approaching a criminal
situation," Cmdr. Samuel Dennis said.
"WE COULD HAVE a horrible
situation."
Dennis also said that although Cuban
authorities previously had halted
departures from Mariel harbor during
rough weather, they had failed to do so
over the weekend.
"The Cuban government seems to
have total disregard for the weather,"
he said, noting the boats braving four to
seven foot seas on the 90-mile trip
across the Florida Straits to Key West.
HE COMMENTED after the Coast
Guard airlifted 55 passengers from a 34-
foot fishing vessel that ran aground five
miles offshore.
On Saturday, 14 refugees died when
the 36-foot Olo Yumi capsized with 52
passengers. The captain said Cuban
authorities had forced him to take ad-
ditional passengers and misled him
about sea conditions.
State Department spokeswoman
Joanna Caplan said Cuban officials had
not responded directly to President
Carter's proposal of last Wednesday
that the U.S. government transport the
refugees.
"OUR EFFORTS NOW are in less
formal diplomatic channels, such as the
Coast Guard, than trying to deal direc-
tly with the Cuban officials,"
Caplan said.
Meantime, about 70 refugee-laden
vessels waited in a long line off gover-
nment docks here as federal officials
tried desperately to keep the flow of
new arrivals moving to centers in
Miami, Fort Chaffee, Ark., and Indian-
town Gap, Pa.
John W. Macy Jr., director of the
Federal Emergency Management
Ageancy, said that Camp McCoy, Wis.,
had been selected as the next tem-
porary housing site for Cuban refugees
should additional space be needed.
Former President Gerald R. Ford,
speaking to a business group, said
yesterday the United States should ac-
cept all Cuban refugees except "har-
dened criminals and the terminally ill."
ENERGY.
We can't
afford to
waste it.
4
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