The Iranian Hostage Crisis
The Iranian Hostage Crisis began on November 4, 1979, when a large mob of Iranian students stormed the US Embassy in Tehran, and took 66 hostages. 52 of these hostages would be held for over a year. This crisis marked the end of American involvement in Iranian affairs, and would heavily damage American-Iranian relations.
The hostage crisis had its origins in events related to American interference in Iran. Oil was a very important resource, and British and American companies controlled most of Iran’s petroleum reserves. In 1951, when Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh announced plans to nationalize the Iranian Oil Industry. In response to this, the American CIA and the British devised a coup to overthrow Mossadegh and replace him with a pro western leader.
The plot succeeded, and Mohammad Shah Reza Pahlavi, a member of the Iranian royal family, became the new leader. Pahlavi was very pro - western, and agreed to give 80% of all oil reserves to the Americans and British. Iranians were very upset by what they saw as American involvement in their affairs. To make matters worse, Pahlavi was a dictator who used his secret police to brutally suppress the people. By the 1970s, the Iranian people were fed up Pahlavi. They turned to Ruhollah Khomeini, a radical Islamic cleric, who preached about revolution and more Iranian autonomy. In July, 1979, the Iranian people forced Pahlavi out of government. When the US government allowed Pahlavi into the United States for cancer treatment, anti US fervor in Iran exploded. On November 4, 1979, angry Iranian students entered the embassy and took many embassy workers hostage.
Diplomacy was largely ineffective, as both sides could not reach a deal to release the hostages. Iran demanded that Pahlavi be extradited to Iran for trial, whilst the US froze Iranian assets in America. Unable to reach a diplomatic settlement, President Carter decided to launch Operation Eagle Claw, which would sent an elite special forces team in to rescue the hostages. On the day of the mission in April 1980, a large sandstorm occurred, causing several helicopter malfunctions and one of the helicopters to crash into a transport plane. Eight American servicemen were killed, and the operation was subsequently aborted. This accident was a huge embarrassment for the Carter administration. After renewed diplomatic efforts, the US and Iranian governments finally reached a deal, and the hostages were released on January 1981, minutes after Reagan gave his inaugural speech.
The hostage crisis had a large effect on America, both domestically and internationally. At home, the large media coverage of the crisis depicted President Carter as an ineffective leader who struggled to free the hostages. In addition, his efforts to release the hostages kept him from campaigning, which ultimately allowed him to be defeated easily by Reagan during the elections. Internationally speaking, American and Iranian relations would be very heavily damaged by this crisis. In an effort to undermine Iran, America would support Iraq in the Iran and Iraq War. These actions would be very consequential, as it upset the balance of power in the Middle East. The United States would end up going to war against Iraq in 1991, just a decade after the Iranian hostage crisis. The Iranian hostage crisis heavily transformed Middle Eastern politics, and its effects can still be felt today.
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