The HIID consultant said, "HIID is completely incompetent to carry on such a program in the field of international development."

Gordon, however, said the Iranian government turned to Harvard "because we're a University, and not a consulting firm, so at least we're the appropriate unit to train people to do things themselves."

Harvard has been uniquely non-acquisitive," he added. "We did not even solicit our contracts, and even backed out to an extent."

Dr. Ascher J. Segall, director of the Center for Educational Development and Health, said yesterday that the center's recently terminated project was "relatively circumscribed," and was conducted "directly with the Free University of Iran, and not directly with the Iranian government."

Segall said he is not aware of any connection between the Iranian government and the Free University. He added that similar programs are currently underway in several countries, including Israel.

The HIID consultant cited "a number of substantial difficulties," many of them apparently financial, encountered in all the various Harvard-Iran projects.

"The Iranians overextended themselves during the energy crisis; they were too eager to blindly imitate what we have in America," the consultant said, adding that the Iranian government has interfered "in some manner" with every Harvard project to date, including Segall's.

The Medical School's withdrawal from the Iran medical project came after the government substantially reduced the school's development budget.

RSKU Project Criticized

The consultant also criticized the RSKU project, under the direction of Harold L. Goyette, director of the Planning Office, as "very was ful." "No one at Harvard, including Goyette, has any experience in planning a whole university campus," the source said.

"I don't think Harvard's director of planning should spend 99 per cent of his time running around in a country with 40,000 political prisoners in its jails," the consultant added. "If Harvard is not suffering from his absence, it shows you how much it's worth to have him around."

Goyette, who returned from Iran yesterday, said he does not plan to devote full time to the RSKU development, but instead will only "fly to Iran every three months or so" to supervise the project.

Goyette said he is unaware of any government interference in the RSKU project, and added that Harvard's planning office "was absolutely the best office" that could be enlisted in the drafting of the campus master plan