Iran offered to secure the release of four American hostages in Lebanon in exchange for 16 U.S.-built fighter jets owned by Chile, but Secretary of State George P. Shultz rejected the deal, according to a Reagan administration official. Confirming the substance but not the specifics of an ABC-TV report, the official said, "We turned it off definitely, in Santiago, in Israel and here." The official, who would comment on the story only if his name was withheld, called the proposal "one example of many in the last few years of people offering deals." Another U.S. official, who also demanded anonymity, said "it is correct there was no deal, nor was there any U.S. government interest. The United States did not and does not discuss deals for hostages."
