Iran proposes steps to end hostage crisis

The United States could help resolve the hostage crisis by returning the assets of the late Shah and his family and acknowledging its role in supporting the former Shah's regime, an Iranian parliamentary commission said Monday. The suggestion -- believed to be the first public, official proposal from Iran -- came in a draft reply to a letter from US congressmen who appealed for the liberation of the hostages. Meanwhile, the State Department said Secretary of State Edmund Muskie had sent a letter to Iran's new prime minister calling for the release of the hostages. It did not comment on the commission draft.