First The Hostages, Then the Deal

Yes, the U.S. Government is ready to negotiate with Iran, discuss political and economic cooperation and assist the pariah state to return to the community of responsible nations. That message has been delivered for months to Tehran through Swiss officials, other third-country diplomats and private citizens. But the price for such a new beginning is not negotiable: all seven of the American hostages still held in Lebanon must first be freed unconditionally.

Since Robert Polhill was released two weeks ago, a chorus of calls has gone up for a reciprocal gesture from Washington, something that might promote more releases. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati said it was now the West's "turn" and suggested that the U.S. press Israel to release Shi'ite Arabs from its prisons. Even Democrat Lee Hamilton, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East, recommended "some kind of gesture."

George Bush is not having any of that. "I'm not looking for gestures," he said after Polhill was freed. "I'm looking for the release of our hostages." Echoed Secretary of State James Baker: "We are not going to deal, and we are not going to negotiate." The Administration believes any accommodation of the demands for reciprocity would only raise the ante for the release of the others. Bush is particularly sensitive about offering any payoff because he was nearly burned by the Iran-contra affair. He was not even willing to send Assistant Secretary of State John Kelly to Damascus to arrange Polhill's release for fear Kelly might be drawn into negotiating with the kidnapers.

What Bush is doing is all he can -- or should -- do. He has publicly thanked President Hafez Assad for his help in freeing Polhill, boosting the Syrian's prestige. He has passed the word that he is ready to talk with Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani. This sort of thing makes it easier for Syria and Iran to put pressure on the terrorists holding the hostages.

The process would be easier for Bush if he did not have to deal with contradictory signals from Congress. Last week the House of Representatives joined the Senate in a resolution supporting an undivided Jerusalem as Israel's capital. This is not official U.S. policy, and the congressional resolution is not binding on the Administration. Even so, it allowed Hussein Musawi, a Lebanese Shi'ite leader, to score a point that might become an excuse for a delay in freeing more of the captives, by asking why the release of one hostage should be met with "such a monumentally ill-intentioned response."