From a hostage's daughter

I write as a daughter of John Graves, one of the Americans held hostage in Tehran. America is being duped again! We've drowning in the same patriotic blindness that took us to Vietnam. Our hatred is being used to hide the same political corruption Watergate uncovered. When will we learn?

Yes, the takeover of our Tehran Embassy is a violation of international law and human rights, but so was 25 years of US intervention in Iran. The question is not "who is guilty" but what can be done to redress such crimes and enforce our common condemnation of Soviet violations of that same law. Besides, US intervention in Iran is just one side of the story. Why is Congress delaying hearings on all other aspects of this crisis?

* Why were State Department and intelligence forewarnings of the danger in granting the ex-Shah a US visa ignored? Why wasn't our embassy either closed or adequately protected beforehand?

* Why was our "good friend" the ex- Shah left out in the cold from January ' 79, when he was deposed, to October '79? Why was friendship for a former OPEC leader considered more important than our costly efforts to protect US interests in Iran's strategic location and oil supply?

* Why didn't the ex-Shah's friends send American medical personnel and equipment to Mexico on a private basis as they did to Egypt?

* Why wasn't Congress informed of the Lackland agreements between the ex-Shah and our administration? What happened to the "white paper" Congress called for?

* Why did Chase Manhattan break its own internationally respected practices to declare Iran in default because of frozen installment on a huge loan? Since this loan had not been approved by the Shah's parliament as required by law, was it legally enforceable in the first place? Will the inventory of Iranian assets be used to reimburse this huge loan though its legality is questionable?

Answering these questions could in no way be "playing into the hands of terrorists" but it would clarify why this administration decided the ex-Shah's health was more important than American interests and American lives in Iran. Sterling, Va.

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