Moscow says US conflict with Iran will go on

The Soviet Union said the Iranian- US crisis would go on despite the hostages' release because of American "imperialism" in the Gulf. The Communist Party newspaper Pravda said that former President Carter could have obtained the release of the hostages long ago by negotiating with Iran and meeting what it called Iran's legal demands. It added that Washington had used events in Afghanistan and the hostage issue as an excuse to send warships to the Gulf.

It also dismissed US charges that Moscow tried, in the final days of the hostage negotiations, to exacerbate the conflict between the two countries by accusing the US of preparing an armed interven tion in Iran.