MEMORANDUM THE WHITE HOUSE NSC t11sl WASHINGTON January 3 1979 MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD SUBJECT Informal NSC Meeting 12 00-1 15 PM Wednesday January 3 1979 The Cabinet Room ATTENDEES The President The Vice President Secretary Vance Acting Secretary Duncan CIA Director Turner Hamilton Jordan Zbigniew Brzezinski 1 Iran The President asked those present whether in their view we should ask the Shah to step aside ZB indicated he was against this on the assumption that the question is whether we ask and not whether it is desirable that he step aside Turner indicated the Shah has to leave Vance suggested we support steps the Shah has taken including his decision to leave the country since it would give Bakhtiar more of a chance to succeed The President said we could assume it is the Shah's decision ZB argued that we should not delude ourselves that the above would not be interpreted by the Iranians as a recommendation that the Shah step aside We have to take into account the likely consequences of this for our friends in Iran Seeming U S disengagement could plunge the country into anarchy or even civil war Vance argued that the military cannot govern The President indicated that parliament could be a source of stability A genuinely non-aligned Iran need not be viewed as a U S setback In the meantime i t was agreed that if needed Annenberg would provide a haven for the Shah's family and the Shah himself The Vice President felt that we should encourage the Shah to leave without appearing to have said so The President stated that the central issue is whether the Shah's early departure is favorable to the U S Turner s was no t aur e th ---------- -Shah wants to leave Duncan suggested that General Huyser should go immediately to reassure the Iranian military of continuing U S -Iran military arrangements ZB argued that if the Shah has to leave we should compensate for this by clearcut commitments ·to Iran so that if worse comes to worst and violence is used the Iranian military will feel confident of U S military support qie p - Si3€RET Review on January 3 1999 Classified by Z Brzezinski Reason for Extension NSC l 13 f DECLASSIFIED RELEASED ON - by NARA on the recommendation of the NSC uncle ' provisions of E O 12958 S'' 2 It was decided that a cable will be sent to the Shah indicating that in line with his decision to leave the country when Bakhtiar is confirmed the U S is prepared to offer him hospitality for the duration of his stay here It was also agreed that General Huyser will leave for Iran immeidately with a message for the Iranian military that the U S supports them completely no matter what transient political circumstances may arise and we urge the Iranian military leaders not to leave the country S 'i v h' On other mat l✓ers 1 It was decided not to deploy the F-15 squadron to· until after the Bakhtiar government has been established When such deployment takes placer both Israel and Egypt ought to be informed 2 The President approved removal of some of our sensitive equipment and personnel from two U S facilities 3 Precautionary measures regarding sensitive U S military equipment were also discussed 2 Nicaragua It was agreed that the U S will back a plebiscite under close OAS supervision but not direct control Registration and voting should be combined despite Somoza's objections The U S will support the FOA position on the other three contentious issues including the actual ·wording of the plebiscite At the end of the meeting ZB commented that ve should not lose sight of the fact that every U S action with respect to Iran seenis to indicate disengagement -- civilian evacuation removal of personnel and equipment indirect encouragement to the Shah to leave This is bound to have political ramifications · Secretary Duncan is to submit wording for the Huyser instructions by c o b today It was agreed that the instructions shciuld b particularly strong and positive Secretary Vance to send telegram to Sullivan for the Shah