“I want to talk about why I want to be President. It’s not fair to judge my whole career by a rehash on Iran.”

Vice-President George Bush
to CBS anchor Dan Rather
(January 25 1988)

March 18, 2026 — Henry Kissinger viewed Iran as a rational, strategic actor rather than a purely ideological one, arguing that it behaves as a national power pursuing regional influence. While acknowledging Iran’s revolutionary ideology, Kissinger maintained that its foreign policy calculations are often grounded in national interest and realpolitik. In this context, Ali Larijani arguably played an important role in shaping aspects of Iran’s more pragmatic diplomatic posture. For my readers, I can add a personal note: I contacted him in the summer of 2008. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

RELATED POST: Suspicious Aviation Tragedies — Iran Flight 655 (July 3 1988)

RELATED POST: Meet Trump’s new Iran Man: CIA Michael D’Andrea

RELATED POST: Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Takes Many Secrets to His Grave

RELATED POST: On This Day — The Iran-Contra Scandal (November 3, 1986)

RELATED POST: On This Day — Tehran Releases 52 US Hostages After 444 Days (January 20 1981) [2020]

RELATED POST: On This Day — Terry Waite Released by Islamic Jihad (November 18 1991) [2019]

“Silent enim leges inter arma.”

Marcus Tullius Cicero
Pro Milone (52 BCE)

Ali Larijani (3 June 1958 – 17 March 2026) was a formidable figure in Iranian politics — highly educated, with degrees in both mathematics and Western philosophy. He was widely regarded as a serious intellectual and a skilled negotiator.

His brother, Mohammad Javad Larijani — who also studied mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley — has likewise been associated with efforts to manage tensions with the United States, particularly in the aftermath of the Iran Air Flight 655 shoot-down on July 3, 1988.

The Story Historians Never Told

In the summer of 1988, George H. W. Bush appeared genuinely surprised by the strong public reaction to his statement that, regardless of the facts, he would never apologize for the shoot down of Iran Air Flight 655.

At the time, Bush was trailing his opponent, Michael Dukakis, by roughly ten points in the polls.

Recognizing the political resonance of the issue, he would go on to repeat this position frequently on the campaign trail. The memory of the American hostages held in Tehran remained vivid in the public mind.

Yet behind the scenes, a different story was unfolding…

In late August 1988, a meeting reportedly took place near Montreux, Switzerland — at Glyon — between American intermediaries, including Richard Lawless, and Iranian negotiators.

According to accounts known to this author, additional meetings followed in September, with another occurring in early October.

The Iranian participants included Mohammad Javad Larijani, Mahmoud Jamali, Nasrollah Kazemi Kamyab, and Abolghasem Mesbahi — figures associated with Iran’s foreign policy establishment at the time.

Within Tehran, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, then Speaker of Parliament, is often described as favoring a more pragmatic approach.

Some accounts suggest he viewed a limited condemnation by the UN Security Council as a sufficient outcome to defuse tensions.

What remains far more controversial is the suggestion that informal understandings may have emerged from these contacts — possibly involving mutual political interests on both sides, including efforts to contain the broader fallout from the Iran-Contra affair.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Postscript — On Christmas Eve 1992, President George H. W. Bush effectively brought the Iran-Contra investigation led by Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh to a close by issuing pardons to several key figures, including former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, whose trial was imminent.

Then–Attorney General William Barr did not oppose the decision. Critics argued that these pardons curtailed further legal exposure at the highest levels of government.

Three years later, Barr would support the attribution of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing to Libya—a position strongly endorsed by President George H. W. Bush, who maintained that Tripoli had acted alone.

That conclusion, however, has remained contested. No serious intellectual has ever believed that story. But then again, History is the lies historians agree upon.

REFERENCES

Rather’s Questioning of Bush Sets Off Shouting on Live Broadcast — NYT (Jan 26 1988)

Ali Larijani was ruthless – and clear-eyed about west’s implacable hostility to Iran — The Guardian (March 18, 2026)

=

The US-Iran Secret Meetings in Montreux, Switzerland (Summer 1988)

“I will never apologize for the United States of America, ever.
I don’t care what the facts are.”

Vice President
George H. W. Bush
(August 7, 1988)