for the quick release of the hostages, and told Reuters five days later that "United States presidential candidate Ronald Reagan, supported by Kissinger and others, has no intention of solving the problem. They will do everything in their power to block it." In September and October, he made several other public statements alleging that a deal to delay the release of the hostages may have taken place. The French news agency Agence France Presse quoted him on 6 September as stating the "Reagan camp was trying hard to block a solution of the [hostage] problem before the elections" and that he had "information" to prove it. On 11 September, the open letter was published in an Iranian newspaper with similar charges. A decade later in 1991, Joseph E. Persico of The New York Times concluded a review of Gary Sick's book October Surprise stating: "Two friends of Ghotbzadeh who spoke to him frequently during this period said that he insisted repeatedly that the Republicans were in contact with elements in Iran to try to block a hostage release." The House October Surprise Task Force investigating the October Surprise allegations interviewed close associates of Ghotbzadeh and concluded in 1993 that they "uncovered nothing to corroborate Ghotbzadeh's statements". After the failure of the rescue attempt decided upon by President Carter, he qualified this decision an "act of war" against Iran. However, Ghotbzadeh was not committed anti-American during his tenure. In January 1980, Ghotbzadeh ran for the presidency, but lost the election. His tenure as foreign minister ended in August 1980 and he was replaced by Karim Khodapanahi in the post. Following his retirement from politics Ghotbzadeh dealt with his family trade in the importing business and studied Islamic law. Arrest and execution Ghotbzadeh was first arrested on 7 November 1980 on charges of planning to kill Ayatollah Khomeini and criticising the Islamic Republic Party and put in the Evin Prison. He was released on 10 November when Ayatollah Khomeini intervened. On 8 April 1982, he was arrested along with a group of army officers and clerics (including a son-in-law of the religious leader Ayatollah Kazem Shariatmadari), all accused of plotting the assassination of Ayatollah Khomeini and the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. At an April 1982 "press conference", hujjat al-Islam Mohammad Reyshahri, the chief judge of the newly created Military Revolutionary Tribunal, explained the plot with "an elaborate chart full of boxes