Iranian Parliament may discuss hostages issue

The Speaker of Iranian Parliament, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, said Monday that "the Shah's death will bring about a change in the hostages issue and different committees in the Parliament will start discussing the hostage issue next week." Several prominent deputies disagreed, insisting it could be up to a month before they take up the hostage question.

Meanwhile, after two days of closed-door debate in Parliament, it appears that President Bani-Sadr's nomination of Deputy Interior Minister Mostafa Mir-Salim as prime minister may not be approved, threatening a new political deadlock that could delay the hostage debate.