The Department of Foreign Affairs files, which are included in the annual National Archives of Ireland release, chronicle the hitherto unreported proposition that Iran's ambassador to Ireland made to a government minister at a meeting at Leinster House.

While teaching English at the US embassy in Lebanon, Mr Keenan was kidnapped from outside his Beirut flat on April 11, 1986, and he and several other Western hostages were detained until August 24, 1990.

The incident occurred during a time of increased tensions between the US, EU, and Iran because of the oil crisis, violence in the Middle East, a fatwa against author Salman Rushdie, and the freezing of Iranian assets in Western nations, even though no organisation at the time claimed responsibility or made any demands.

The Irish government worked hard to get Mr. Keenan released, but nothing happened until the last few months of his detention when authorities were finally able to determine that he was still alive.

The meeting between Seán Calleary, the minister of state in the Department of Foreign Affairs, and Bahram Ghassemi, the Iranian ambassador to Ireland at the time, at Leinster House on March 8, 1990, was one of the most dramatic diplomatic events.

Mr. Calleary brought up Keenan's predicament, but he acknowledged that Iran had no direct contact and that he was being imprisoned in a foreign nation.

The ambassador then requested that the officials cease taking notes, treat his remarks as "very confidential," and refrain from making any public announcements about them.

He went on to say that "the problem could be solved very quickly" if the Irish met in secret with Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and enquired about Mr. Keenan.