Mission Improbable — A Tanzanian diplomat’s attempt to resolve the Iran hostage crisis
The Iran hostage crisis, which began on November 4, 1979, was one of the most consequential events that took place under the presidency of Jimmy Carter. Lasting 444 days, the crisis involved 52 American hostages and hundreds of Iranian university students who had seized the US Embassy in Tehran. It changed the dynamic and relationship between the US and Iran in the already tense context of the Cold War. In more ways than one, the crisis ensured President Carter would be a one-term president, ultimately ushering in the Reagan Administration.
This, along with the US’ ideas and attempts to rescue the hostages, is public knowledge.
What is not known is that in the early part of the crisis, the President of the United Nations General Assembly — a 37-year-old Tanzanian diplomat, was thought to be a trusted negotiator who could help release the hostages and broker a deal with Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran.
That diplomat was Salim Ahmed Salim, Tanzania’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
Although the trip to Tehran never happened, mainly due to the politicking and blocking by then UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim — who was seeking re-election in 1981 — the trust and confidence in Salim to be able to engage and mediate between Iran and the United States provided an unprecedented window into how African diplomats navigated through the corridors of power at the United Nations. It also indicates just how important Tanzania, and its diplomats were considered in a period when global powers shaped the world and how the rest of the world, particularly African states, were just spectators.
Ambassador Salim’s potential candidature for the 1981 UN Secretary-General post and President Carter’s re-election efforts were inextricably linked to the lack of swift resolution to the 444-day hostage crisis.
According to the personal notes of Dr. Salim and the US Ambassador at the time, if the Carter Administration had won re-election, he (Dr. Salim) would have had a significant advantage in his election to contest the US Secretary Generalship. If Reagan won, however, “it would be a different ball game.”
The US Ambassador was right.
President Carter lost the general election in 1980 to Ronald Reagan and Dr. Salim failed to secure the votes to become UN Secretary-General during the 1981 campaign. The US vetoed Dr. Salim’s candidacy each time during a grueling 16 rounds of voting at the UN Security Council.
The real debate, however, is not what could have been.
The real story is that without Dr. Salim’s meticulous notes and record-keeping, we would have never heard about this possible mission to Tehran and the role Tanzanian diplomacy could have played in cooling tensions and finding a solution to one of the biggest crises to have happened in 1979.
The absence of these notes would have been a disservice to those who appreciate history and are keen to understand further how influential Tanzania’s diplomats were in the international arena.
For every untold piece of history, we lose a part of ourselves.
This was one of the main drivers in establishing the Salim Ahmed Salim Digital Archive. We wanted to ensure easy access of documented events with the aim of preserving a piece of our history.
As much as it started as a family-driven initiative, the Archive is a national and African project and an opportunity to tell a uniquely African story about global politics from our perspective.
We are used to seeing correspondence (incoming) from foreign leaders to African heads of state or governments, but we are rarely privy to the responses. We are used to secrets, including our historical moments, being unveiled by others — we need to change this mindset and embrace our stories. Being able to have insights to what transpired in the rooms and corridors of where history was shaped is important for Africans and future generations.
Our hope is that the Salim Ahmed Salim Archive will encourage African leaders and governments to share more stories of what transpired in the past to highlight Africa’s role in shaping global politics.
That way African diplomats can shape and influence the future where an estimated 25% of the world’s population is going to be from the continent by 2050.
Engage and explore the Salim Ahmed Salim Digital Archive — Tanzania’s first digital archive: www.salimahmedsalim.com
