OFFICIAL-INFORMAL
CONFIDENTIAL
The Honorable
L. Bruce Laingen
Charge d'Affaires, a.i.
American Embassy
Tehran
Dear Bruce:
Let me give you the flavor of the lunch Peter and I had this week with Agah and Mansour Farhang.
First, the food: austere even by the standard of Shahryar Rouhani. (But I suppose Ambassador Foroughi might have said the same of the hamburger he had with me on the 8th floor.)
Second, Farhang will be a welcome addition to the public relations department of the Embassy. He is quite articulate, smart, a true believer and a self-confessed civil libertarian. He and Agah suggested that we might be helping the Kurds or pleased that the Soviets were crushing the Afghan rebels (because both super powers oppose the Islamic Revolution). But he is sincere in opposing restrictions on the foreign press and to a lesser degree the Tehran press. He has the academic's inclination to criticize while defending. He said he was asked by Behzardinia to defend the PGOI's actions against the press on TV. Farhang said he agreed to appear, but said "I will attack you, for I strongly disagree with your action."
Farghang has been in California since the early sixties and I suspect his reluctance to take an official position may have something to do with a green card. His two sons' interest in baseball and his wife's distaste for a land without music may also have played a part in his move here.
Sincerely,
Henry Precht
CONFIDENTIAL
GDS 9/20/85
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