Koob: 'Revenge isn't the way'

How can you talk about reconciliation and not talk about forgiveness?” asked Kathryn Koob.

Koob is well-versed on this subject. In November 1979 she was taken hostage with 51 other Americans and held for 444 days in Iran. The U.S. has had no relations with Iran since the hostage episode.

Her experience in Iran and current Middle East issues come up in a religion course she teaches at Wartburg College, an ELCA school in Waverly, Iowa, where she’s an adjunct professor in the communication arts department. Koob also teaches confirmation and Sunday school at her church, St. Paul Lutheran, Waverly.

Kathryn Koob’s experience as a 1979 hostage in Iran and current Middle East issues come up in religious classes she teaches at Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa. Koob hopes contact between the U.S. and Iran will be restored.

To stay on top of the current situation in Iran, Koob said, “I do a lot of reading.”

Koob hopes that contact between the U.S. and Iran will be restored. Last spring, Iranian President Ahmadi Nejab sent a letter to President George W. Bush. “It was an overture,” she said. Koob hoped it might help open conversation.

“Even if the letter was a political ploy, the administration should capitalize on it to our benefit,” Koob said. “We need to get talking with Iran again. When communication opens up, they might express regret about what they did to us 25 years ago.”