Hostage deal possible, Waldheim to tell Carter

January 7, 1980

United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim's anticipated report to President Carter on his fact-finding trip to Iran would include his impression that many members of the ruling Revolutionary Council there favor a negotiated solution to the hostage crisis, Mr. Waldheim told an ABC news "Issues and Answers" television panel Sunday.

Mr. Waldheim said Iranians showed no concern over economic sanctions the UN Security Council might vote after the Jan. 7 deadline for release of the US prisoners set by the Council passes.

The Secretary-General would not say whether he had seen Bruce Laingen, the US charge d'affaires detained in the Iranian Foreign Ministry, who the hostages' captors are demanding should be turned over to them.