Bruce Laingen's last words to the Iranian hostage-takers who had held him and dozens of other American diplomats captive for more than a year were remarkably magnanimous.
As he boarded an aircraft to freedom nearly 30 years ago, Mr Laingen, the most senior of those diplomats, told the hostage-takers: "I look forward to the day when your country and mine can again have a normal relationship."
Mr Laingen, whose diplomatic career spanned 38 years, is delighted that the US state department is now authorising American embassies around the world to invite Iranian diplomats to Fourth of July celebrations for the first time in nearly three decades. "Thirty years is too long not to talk to each other - it makes no sense," he said during a telephone interview from his home in Bethesda, Maryland, where he is retired.
The gesture, already known as "hot dog" diplomacy, is the latest expression of goodwill from the Obama administration to Iran, coming days before watershed elections there. "This is very much in line with our policy of trying to engage with the Iranian government," said a US state department spokesman.
Mr Laingen, 86, has the distinction of hosting the last July 4 reception at the US embassy in Tehran before it was seized on Nov 4 1979 by militant students who held 52 American diplomats and other personnel for the next 444 days. Today, the defunct embassy houses a detachment of Revolutionary Guards and an anti-American museum.
Mr Laingen had arrived as chief of mission in Tehran in an optimistic mood on June 16 1979, four months after the Islamic Revolution. It was meant to be a temporary posting. His brief as chargé d'affaires was to build a new relationship with the jittery revolutionary regime and persuade it that Washington had no intention of working with the exiled shah or attempting to restore him to the throne.
Mr Laingen was well received by secular officials of the provisional government of the revolution, which was headed by the prime minister, Mehdi Bazargan, a veteran liberal leader who was an uncomfortable ally of Ayatollah Khomeini and other hardline clerics.
Having made what he thought was a "good start", Mr Laingen decided to press ahead with a July 4 reception at his residence in the US Embassy compound in central Tehran. It was less than three weeks after his arrival.
The party, held at noon, was surprisingly well-attended by Iranian officials, among them the foreign minister and army chief of staff although, as far as Mr Laingen recalls, no clerics came. The atmosphere was guarded but friendly and "upbeat". No alcohol was served in deference to the Islamic sensitivities of Iranian guests.
Mr Laingen, raising a glass of fruit juice, did attempt to get the US-educated foreign minister, Ibrahim Yazdi, to join him in a toast. "He was reluctant to participate in that because that was probably too much of a [friendly] gesture [to the US] that he could live with right then," Mr Laingen said. But the two men had "good conversation" and the reception received some favourable local press coverage.
"I'm an optimist by nature and I was more optimistic that day [of the July 4 party] than I probably should have been," Mr Laingen said. Hopes among American diplomats that the successful reception might augur well for the durability of the US embassy in revolutionary Iran were soon shattered.
The compound, called the "den of spies" by radicals, was stormed four months later, after the US agreed to admit the Shah for medical treatment.
Tehran, which long suspected the US was conspiring to restore him to power, saw this as a hostile act. Within 24 hours of the embassy seizure, Bazargan resigned along with his cabinet.
The embassy's seizure was a serious blow for Iranian moderates such as the late Bazargan, whom Mr Laingen describes as a "classic Iranian gentleman" and "friend of the US". It cemented the Islamic Revolution for Ayatollah Khomeini and his radical supporters who did not share Bazargan's hopes of a liberal democracy and accommodation with the West. Within months, Washington had severed ties with Tehran.
Mr Laingen and two other American officials were at Iran's foreign ministry when the embassy was seized and held separately from the other hostages, who spent most of their captivity in the embassy compound.
But after an ill-fated secret US military mission to rescue the hostages in April 1980, many of the captives were moved out of Tehran to strongholds around the country for varying periods before being returned to the embassy.
Near the end of the hostage crisis, Mr Laingen and his two colleagues, still confined at the Iranian foreign ministry, were taken by militants to a prison where they were held for several weeks in solitary confinement at the end of their captivity.
"It was a nice, cold, hard, dark prison - I wouldn't recommend it," he said dryly. But many of the hostages "had a far worse time than I did". All 52 were freed on Jan 20 1981.
Now, nearly 30 years later, it remains to be seen whether any Iranian diplomats will attend July 4 functions. Nor is it clear whether such invitations have been issued yet. The state department's cable to US missions authorising them such invitations was sent only last Friday.
Many Iranian diplomats in Gulf and other Middle Eastern countries will be spared any agonising over whether to accept - assuming Tehran gives the green light to do so - because most US embassies in the region have already had their parties in springtime. Annual Independence Day celebrations are routinely held early to avoid the July heat and the summer holiday period when many local dignitaries on prospective guest lists are abroad.
John Limbert, another former American diplomat held hostage during the embassy siege, also hailed Mr Obama's latest gesture to Tehran. "For 30 years we've been in this no-war, no-peace situation where we're yelling at each other and trading insults and it hasn't gotten us anywhere and it hasn't gotten the Iranians anywhere," Mr Limbert, a fluent Farsi speaker married to an Iranian, told The National.
In Iran, meanwhile, several of the student leaders who led the US embassy seizure, are now among Tehran's most pro-reform politicians, outspokenly endorsing dialogue with Washington.
But, said Mr Laingen, the lead for dialogue has to be taken at the top in Tehran. "He's [Obama] been saying and doing the right things. There's a limit to what he can say and do without some response from that side [Iran]. We need something more than a suggestion from [President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad that we need to change our behaviour."
mtheodoulou@thenational.ae
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
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If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh12 million
Engine 8.0-litre quad-turbo, W16
Gearbox seven-speed dual clutch auto
Power 1479 @ 6,700rpm
Torque 1600Nm @ 2,000rpm 0-100kph: 2.6 seconds 0-200kph: 6.1 seconds
Top speed 420 kph (governed)
Fuel economy, combined 35.2L / 100km (est)
Results
4pm: Maiden; Dh165,000 (Dirt); 1,400m
Winner: Solar Shower; William Lee (jockey); Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
4.35pm: Handicap; Dh165,000 (D); 2,000m
Winner: Thaaqib; Antonio Fresu; Erwan Charpy.
5.10pm: Maiden; Dh165,000 (Turf); 1,800m
Winner: Bila Shak; Adrie de Vries; Fawzi Nass
5.45pm: Handicap; Dh175,000 (D); 1,200m
Winner: Beachcomber Bay; Richard Mullen; Satish Seemar
6.20pm: Handicap; Dh205,000 (T); 1,800m
Winner: Muzdawaj; Jim Crowley; Musabah Al Muhairi
6.55pm: Handicap; Dh185,000 (D); 1,600m
Winner: Mazeed; Tadhg O’Shea; Satish Seemar
7.30pm: Handicap; Dh205,000 (T); 1,200m
Winner: Riflescope; Tadhg O’Shea; Satish Seemar.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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THE%20SPECS
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km
The specs: 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor
Price, base / as tested Dh220,000 / Dh320,000
Engine 3.5L V6
Transmission 10-speed automatic
Power 421hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 678Nm @ 3,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 14.1L / 100km
Company%20Profile
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The Beach Bum
Director: Harmony Korine
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg
Two stars
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