Approved.For Release 2000/08) pes cwaneeenane ane By Ann Devroy Washington Post Staff Writer EE Amid increasing signs of significant changes inside Iran, and hints of secret di- plomacy, the Bush administration yesterday welcomed “encouraging” signals from Teh- ran on the fate of the American hostages. In Tehran, President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafeanjani told journalists that Iran wanted to solve the hostage problem. “My feeling is that the issue of the hostages is moving to- wards a solution,” he said at a news confer- ence after the return of Mahmoud Hashemi, his brother, from visits to Syria and Lebanon where he met with officials and Shiite Mos- lem leaders. . ! HT Iran said that Rafsanjani, after several months in office marked by a power strug- gle with extremists who oppose his plans to improve relations with the West, is now consolidating his control, That consolida- tion, they.said, was the most positive sign that five years of Western efforts to free 18 hostages might reach fruition. Officials yesterday cited as a significant sign the arrival of a special mission from the World Bank in Tehran-to review an Iranian request for economic assistance. The ne- gotiations followed a two-month battle in the Iranian parliament, which approved a Rafsanjani plan to borrow about $27 billion from foreign countries despite initial oppo- sition from hard-liners. The money: would finance an ambitious five-year project to U.S. government and outside experts on ils From Iran On Frlostazes really is happening—the president, [Sec- retary of State James A.] Baker and [nation- al security adviser] Brent Scowcroft.” Gary Sick, who handled Iranian matters on President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Council staff and now observes Iran from Co- :lumbia University, said yesterday: “I am as | optimistic as I have ever been. I think this is fit. I really do .... I see this {release of the hostages] as the next step. He [Rafsanjani]. ‘needs it and he is doing this not because he cares about the hostages. but simply to rein- force his position domestically.” : Sick interpreted Rafsanjani’s decision to publicly predict a solution to the hostage. cri- sis as a sign of his growing control of the gov- ernment. But like several administration of- Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000401020008:7 to obtain the credits. A White ficials, Sick cautioned, “Things can always go wrong, especially in Lebanon.” In Lebanon yesterday, a group calling-it- self the Revolutionary Justice Organization said it had no intention of releasing -two American hostages it has been holding. They are Joseph Cicippio of Pennsylvania and Edward Austin Tracy of Vermont,"an author. There are six other American :hos- tages among the 18 from the West. 2x" The new optimism was triggered by a se- ries of editorials in Iran’s Tehran Times-over the past 10 days calling for the first time for an “unconditional” release of foreign captives held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon. ©. ° | In addition to the editorials, a senior Hez- bollah official, Hussein Mussawi, has: ex~ See HOSTAGES, A32, Col. 1 - presséd hope for an early release of ~ income beyond the ceiling for bank. _ requested it in September, prompt- Administration Welcomes ‘Encouraging’ Sign rebuild Iran’s economy and infrastructure, devastated by the war with Iraq. White House press secretary Marlin Fitz- water said the administration was “encour- aged by the comments” of Rafsanjani, The remarks, Fitzwater added, “are certainly more hopeful than we have heard in the more distant past.” A senior administration official described the attitude of officials at the White House as “one of we wait and sit and read tea leaves and read cables and feel optimistic, but many of us have been through this be- fore. We are more optimistic, yes, but there is no sign.of imminent release” of the hos- tages. Another senior official said: “We think nothing is going to happen .immediate- ty. But I think only three people know what —— the hostages, according to the of- ficial Iranian news agency. In the past, Mussawi spoke out strongly against concessions to the West and unconditional release of the hos- tages. Hezboliah’s spiritual guide, Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlal- lah, last week voiced optimism and called for an end to the hostage cri- | sig,in his Friday sermon. Two Iranian government envoys went to Damascus and Beirut in an - unannounced visit two days ago to consult with Syrian officials and Shi- | ite clerics. Sources in Beirut said |: Mahmoud Hashemi, director of the ‘ Middle East department at the Iran- ian Foreign Ministry, and Mahmoud Akhtari, Iran’s ambassador to Syria, traveled to Beirut from Syria. Sources in Washington said Syr- ian Foreign Minister Farouk Charaa was planning to visit the Iranian capital in the next two days. .: The mission from the World Bank is the second to Tehran in the past three months. The bank had cut off loans to Iran after the 1979 explosion in oil prices raised Iran’s assistance. The move coincided with the seizure of U.S. hostages. Iran, again eligible for assistance, ing the visits by the World Bank teams. While the United States has no direct control over. World Bank loans, its voting rights and pressure on allies could thwart an Iranian ef- House official said the United States would oppose such funding, ed tt aaananmir ties ta Tran.