Leaves Behind a White House Troubled by Iran Crisis : Reagan in California to Start New Year

President Reagan returned to California on Saturday for the eighth time in 1986, to see in a new year and, for a week, to leave behind a White House troubled by the Iran crisis.

“The Iran controversy has certainly been a disappointment for all of us,” he said in remarks that were tape recorded before he left Washington and aired as he crossed the continent.

“Nonetheless, I am committed to getting all the facts and fixing whatever went wrong,” he said in his weekly radio speech to the nation.

“Nineteen-eighty-six has been a good year for the cause of human freedom and good for the cause of world peace,” he said in the address, which, apart from the brief reference to the Iran affair, was used to catalogue developments that left the President with an upbeat view of the waning year: the Iceland summit conference, continued economic recovery, legislation revising the nation’s tax code and “impressive victories” in the battle against drug abuse.

‘Differences Narrowed’

Despite concerns raised by the Western allies that the meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev raised the risk of weakening Western defenses by offering a too-sharp cut in nuclear weapons, Reagan said of the conference:

“It was clear the differences between our positions on arms reduction had narrowed considerably. In the year ahead, both sides are in a good position to build on what has been accomplished. As the song puts it, it was a very good year.”

A central figure in the effort to unravel the mystery of the Iran arms situation, Donald T. Regan, the White House chief of staff, did not make the trip west with the President and First Lady Nancy Reagan.

In the past, he has joined the Reagans for the annual holiday celebrations at the home of millionaire publisher Walter H. Annenberg in Palm Springs, but this year he opted to spend the vacation in Florida.

A 20-Year Tradition

For approximately two decades the President and his wife have spent the New Year’s holiday with Annenberg and his wife, Leonore, at Sunnylands, the Annenbergs’ desert estate. They gather with many of the longtime political allies who boosted Reagan’s political career as governor and then urged him to run for the presidency.

It is some of those same informal advisers who are said to have urged Reagan to aggressively delve into the questions surrounding the Iran affair and who have sought the removal of Regan as chief of staff.

In addition, Nancy Reagan is reported to have felt it would be best for her husband’s presidency if Regan left.

But Reagan and Regan have so far fended off such pressures, as well as the criticism of Democrat and Republican congressional leaders. The President has balked at replacing his staff chief, and Regan has refused to yield to those who want him to step aside in the hopes that his departure would ease the storm that has engulfed the White House.

Denies Iran Role

The embattled chief of staff has said he had no role in the overall Iran operation, in which it was revealed last month that money paid by Iran for American weapons was diverted to the rebels fighting to overthrow the Sandinista government in Nicaragua.

White House spokesman Larry Speakes said aboard Air Force One as Reagan flew to California that “if something comes up,” the President would be in touch with Regan, who has rarely been far from Reagan’s side, either on vacations or working trips.

On Friday, the White House announced that Reagan had named David M. Abshire, retiring as the U.S. ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, to the newly created post of special counselor to the President to handle matters related to the Iran- contras issue--in effect removing those chores from Regan’s portfolio.

Speakes said Reagan turned to a special counselor to deal with the Iran situation because “he wants someone working on it on a full-time basis.” Earlier, he had indicated there were objections in the White House to hiring someone to focus specifically on the issue.

Legislative Priorities

“There are a lot of pots on the stove,” Speakes told reporters, referring to a January schedule that will have the President presenting his 1988 budget proposals to Congress, delivering the State of the Union address at the end of the month and outlining his legislative priorities for the new session of the House and Senate.

The spokesman said Abshire would assume a “purely reactive” role, rather than an investigative one, to enable the White House to cooperate with the inquiries being conducted by Congress and an independent counsel.

Speakes was making what is likely to be his final trip to California with Reagan. He has announced plans to quit his job as the principal deputy White House press secretary to become vice president for communications of Merrill Lynch Corp. on Feb. 1.

The President, who has spent 61 days in California this year, is expected to stay in Los Angeles until Monday.

Before heading for Palm Springs on Monday, Reagan will present the Presidential Citizens Medal to Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan, who flew the aircraft Voyager around the world without refueling, and to Burt Rutan, the airplane’s designer.

Only Official Event

Voyager landed at Edwards Air Force Base on Tuesday after its nine-day journey. The presentation to the Voyager team is likely to be the only official event on Reagan’s schedule during the coming week.

The Reagans plan to return to Washington on Friday. Two days later, he will enter Bethesda Naval Medical Center and on Monday, Jan. 5, he is scheduled to undergo prostate surgery.

In the weekly Democratic response to Reagan’s message, Rep. Mary Rose Oakar (D-Ohio) made no mention of the Iranian arms controversy but told the President and his wife: “We wish you and your family health, understanding and friendship.

“We want you to know, Mr. President, that our prayers will once again be with you when you undergo surgery in the near future,” Oakar said.

Praising Rutan and Yeager for their globe-girdling flight in the Voyager, Oakar said the American spirit must be directed toward achieving world peace, a balanced budget and improvements for the elderly and the needy, and in American education.