First Responses
1. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski) to President Carter
Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Country File, Box 29, Iran 11/1/79–11/14/79. Confidential. The memorandum was transmitted via telegram WH92089 from the White House Situation Room to Phil Wise for the President at 1141Z (6:41 a.m. Washington time). Carter initialed “C” in the upper right corner. He was at Camp David on November 4; he returned to Washington the next morning.
2. Summary of Conclusions of a Special Coordination Committee Meeting
Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Middle East File, Box 97, Meetings File, 11/5/79: SCC re Iran. Top Secret. The meeting took place in the White House Situation Room. Unless otherwise noted, no minutes of SCC meetings have been found. As standard procedure, Gary Sick prepared summaries of each SCC meeting, “identifying conflicting points of view and issues requiring presidential decision.” Brzezinski then reviewed the summary and sent it, within hours of the meeting, to the President, who then made handwritten comments in the margins. This annotated version was then used as the first item of business at the following SCC meeting. (Sick, All Fall Down, p. 247) According to Turner, members of the SCC never saw or were allowed to read these prepared summaries. (Turner, Terrorism and Democracy, p. 28)
3. Memorandum of Conversation
Source: Department of State, Records of David D. Newsom, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Subject Files, 1978–1981, Lot 81D154, Memoranda of Conversation. Secret. Drafted by Stanley Escudero (IO/UNP). Copies were sent to Christopher, Newsom, Saunders, and Sick. Beheshti was in Tehran; Precht was in Washington.
4. Memorandum From Gary Sick of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski)
Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Middle East File, Box 30, Subject File, Iran 11/1/79–11/10/79. Secret. A stamped notation in the upper right-hand corner of the memorandum reads: “ZB has seen.”
5. Memorandum From Gary Sick of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski)
Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Middle East File, Box 142, Chron File, Sick 11/1/79–11/15/79. Confidential.
6. Summary of Conclusions of a Special Coordination Committee Meeting
Source: Carter Library, National Security Council, NSC Institutional Files (H–Files), Box 105, SCC 195 Iran. Top Secret; Sensitive. The meeting took place in the White House Situation Room. Carter initialed “C” in the upper right corner.
7. Letter From President Carter to Ayatollah Khomeini
Source: Carter Library, Plains File, Box 23, Iran, 6/75–12/79. No classification marking. According to a November 6 memorandum from Brzezinski to Carter, the letter was approved by Vance and reviewed by Clark and Miller. (Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Country File, Box 29, Iran 11/1/79–11/14/79) The letter was never delivered, as the emissaries never reached Iran.
8. Record of a National Security Council Meeting
Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Middle East File, Box 97, Meetings File, 11/6/79: NSC re Iran. No classification marking. Brzezinski was also in attendance.
9. Memorandum From William Odom of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski)
Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, General Odom File, Box 27, Iran 11/78–11/79. Secret; Sensitive; Outside the System. Sent for information.
10. Intelligence Information Cable Prepared in the Central Intelligence Agency
Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Middle East File, Box 30, Subject File, Iran, [Retained] 11/1/79–11/15/79. Secret; [handling restrictions not declassified].
11. Summary of Conclusions of a Special Coordination Committee Meeting
Source: Carter Library, National Security Council, NSC Institutional Files (H–Files), Box 105, SCC 196 Iran. Top Secret; Sensitive. The meeting took place in the White House Situation Room.
12. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (Saunders) to Secretary of State Vance
Source: Carter Library, National Security Council, NSC Institutional Files (H–Files), Box 105, SCC 197 Iran 11/08/79. Secret. Attached to a November 7 memorandum from Newsom and Saunders to Vance.
13. Summary of Conclusions of a Special Coordination Committee Meeting
Source: Carter Library, National Security Council, NSC Institutional Files (H–Files), Box 105, SCC 197 Iran 11/08/79. Top Secret; Sensitive. The meeting took place in the White House Situation Room. Carter initialed “C” in the upper right corner.
14. Record of a Special Coordination Committee Meeting
Source: Carter Library, Brzezinski Donated Material, Geographic Files, Box 13. Secret. Brzezinski chaired the meeting. There is no drafting information. See also Document 13.
15. Memorandum From the White House Chief of Staff (Jordan) to President Carter
Source: Carter Library, Office of the Chief of Staff, Jordan’s Confidential Files, Box 34, Iran 11/79. Eyes Only. Carter initialed “C” in the upper-right corner.
16. Briefing Memorandum From the Director of the Office for Combating Terrorism (Quainton) to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Newsom)
Source: Department of State, Records of David D. Newsom, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Subject Files, 1978–1981, Lot 81D154, Iran: Ghotbzadeh, Bani-Sadr, Khomeini (Iranian Government and its Degrees). Secret. Copies were sent to Read, Saunders, and Constable. A note on the first page reads: “Mr. Newsom has seen Nov 18 1979.” [text not declassified]
17. Memorandum From William Odom of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski)
Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Country File, Box 29, Iran 11/1/79–11/14/79. Secret; Outside the System. Sent for information. A stamped notation in the upper right-hand corner of the memorandum reads: “ZB has seen.”
18. Intelligence Cable Prepared in the Central Intelligence Agency
Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Middle East File, Box 30, Subject File, Iran, [Retained] 11/1/79–11/15/79. Secret; [handling restriction not declassified]. Sent to the National Security Agency, Department of State, DIA, Department of the Treasury, Secret Service, FBI, White House Situation Room, NSC Staff, CIA Office of Current Operations, and Department of Justice.
19. Summary of Conclusions of a Special Coordination Committee Meeting
Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Office File, Box 17, SCC Meeting #200 11/13/79. Top Secret; Sensitive. The meeting took place in the White House Situation Room.
20. Intelligence Information Cable Prepared in the Central Intelligence Agency
Source: Carter Library, National Security Council, NSC Institutional Files (H–Files), Box 105, SCC 198a Iran 11/10/79. Secret; Priority; [handling restrictions not declassified]. Sent to the Department of State, DIA, NSA, and NSC.
21. Memorandum From Gary Sick of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski)
Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Country File, Box 29, Iran 11/1/79–11/14/79. Secret; Outside System. Sent for Information.
23. Briefing Memorandum From the Acting Director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (Mark) to Secretary of State Vance
Source: Department of State, Official Files of [P] David D. Newsom, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Lot 82D85, Iran Update Nov 1979. Secret; Nodis; Sensitive. Drafted by Mark, Harris, Green, and Grummon. Copies were sent to S, D, P, S/P, NEA, S/S, and S/S–I. An unknown hand wrote “Urgent” in the upper right corner of the memorandum.
24. Paper Prepared by the Interagency Group
Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Country File, Box 29, Iran 11/1/79–11/14/79. Secret. A handwritten note by Carter reads: “Zbig: I need to meet with Stan and David.” The interagency group, established at the November 10 SCC meeting and chaired by Aaron, is referred to as “the small group,” the “working group,” the “interagency group,” the “Aaron group,” or the “black group.”
25. Summary of Conclusions of a Special Coordination Committee Meeting
Source: Carter Library, National Security Council, NSC Institutional Files (H–Files), Box 105, SCC 198a Iran 11/10/79. Top Secret; Sensitive. The meeting took place in the White House Situation Room. Carter wrote “Zbig, J” in the upper right corner.
26. Intelligence Memorandum Prepared in the Central Intelligence Agency
Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Office of the Chief of Staff, Jordan’s Confidential Files, Box 35, Iran—CIA Reports, 11/79. Top Secret; [handling restriction not declassified]. Prepared by [name not declassified] of the Iran Task Force; coordinated with the National Intelligence Officer for Near East and South Asia. Information available as of November 13 was used in the report’s preparation.
27. Memorandum for the Files
Source: Department of State, Records of David D. Newsom, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Subject Files, 1978–1981, Lot 81D154, Swiss Channel. Secret. Drafted by Suddarth. Copies were sent to Constable for the Iranian Working Group, Saunders, and Newsom.
28. Memorandum From Gary Sick of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski)
Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Middle East File, Box 142, Chron File, Sick 11/1/79–11/15/79. Secret.
29. Memorandum for the Record by the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (Saunders)
Source: Department of State, Official Files of [P] David D. Newsom, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Lot 82D85, Iran 1979. Secret; Eyes Only. Copies were sent to Vance, Christopher, and Newsom. Turner passed similar information to Vance and Brzezinski under a November 14 covering memorandum. (Department of State, Records of David D. Newsom, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Subject Files, 1978–1981, Lot 81D154, Swiss Channel)