Research Project

                      The Iran Hostage Crisis

     On November 4th 1979, the US Embassy in Tehran, Iran was stormed by Iranian militants. Fifty-two workers were seized and held captive for a total of 444 days. In order to understand the reasoning behind this attack we must first analyze Iran's growing animosity towards the United States.

Anglo-Iranian Oil Company

 As I began my research I soon came across an article from The New York Times. The article titled, "The CIA in Iran" clearly showed that animosity had been brewing between the United States and Iran ever since the 1950's. The year 1951 marked the beginning of the Iranian Oil Nationalization Crisis. By nationalizing Anglo-Iranian oil, Mohammad Mossadegh crippled Britain's economy and began to worry the US. Since Britain had been reliant on Iran's oil for quite some while, they were furious and turned to the United States for help. The American Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.) and the Secret Intelligence Service (S.I.S) in Britain combined efforts to overthrow Mossadegh, the leader of Iran. This coup became known as Operation AJAX (NYT). The link will take you to the actual C.I.A.
  document composed in 1952. 

General Fazlollah Zahedi

 Handpicked by both the US and Britain, General Fazlollah Zahedi replaced Mohammad Mossadegh on August 18, 1953.  Upon becoming the new shah of Iran, Zahedi began trying to westernize the country. He initiated the "The White Revoluion" which helped to nationalize forests, allow women the right to vote, increase the minimum marriage age to eighteen, and create land reforms (Balaghi). The people of Iran began questioning his motives and he soon got pinned with the nickname "American Puppet"(Wise).  Of those that opposed him was Ayatollah Khomeini. Khomeini was a religious leader in Iran that saw General Zahedi's reforms as anti-Islamic. Khomeini and his followers soon began rioting  against the Shah's changes. It was these actions that lead to the exile of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1964. Above is a picture of General Zahedi and his wife.

Rioting Men and Women

Riot Leading to a Destructive Fire

During the these troubled times, the Shah became very reliant upon the United States. Although the Shah was facing opposition in Iran, his relationship with the United States was very strong. In 1977 Jimmy Carter said, "Iran because of the great leadership of the Shahs is an island of stability." ("Americans held hostage in Iran). But, the opposite seemed to be true. Even with the help of the S.A.V.A.H (Sazeman-i Ettelaat va Amniyat-i Keshvar) the Shah couldn't hold down the fort so to speak. On January 19th, 1979 the Shah fled Iran with his wife Empress Soraya . He began "...zig-zaging the world in search of a safe haven. He was also battling a serious illness, lymphoma."(VanSusteren) On October 22nd, 1979 the General arrived secretly in New York City to receive treatment. ..."All that exacerbated the situation with the Iranians."(Beckel).

Ayatollah Khomeini

News soon reached Ayatollah Khomeini, who returned to Iran on the 1st of February 1979 (BBC). His exile to France strengthened his opposition toward's the Shah ruling. Instead of putting an end to the rioting occurring in Iran, he supported it. Riots were becoming more intense. Islamic fundamentalists were burning American flags as well as effigies representing president Carter ("Americans held hostage in Iran").This marked the beginning of the Islamic Revolution. On December 31st The Islamic Republic of Iran was created. It was a theocratic state that was based around Islamic principles ("Islamic Republic of Iran"). All the drastic and extremist changes of 1979 influenced and led up to the Iranian Hostage Crisis.  

By storming the US Embassy in Tehran, the Iranians had one main goal. In exchange for the fifty-two american diplomats, they wanted General Zahedi. The Iranian people wouldn't be satisfied until Zahedi returned and payed for his "crimes". All the actions and reforms that he took while in office were seen as anti-Islamic as well as influenced directly from the "great satan", America. When intel reached America, President Carter had other pressing problems; inflation was above 10% and people were waiting in gas lines("Americans held hostage in Iran"). The repercussions placed on Iran weren't very drastic. On November 14, 1979 an arms embargo was placed and following on April 7, 1980 all exports to Iran were banned (Lawson). A Iran rescue mission was formed in April of 1980, but it was unsuccessful due to equipment failure. Below is President Carter's statement on the rescue mission.

                                                   Jimmy Carter- statement on rescue mission

Although Carter was taking appropriate actions against the Iranians, Americas were frustrated with his efforts. They felt that there was more he could do or more drastic actions that could be made. During this chaotic period, his popularity dropped to twenty percent. Just to get an idea, twenty percent was a lesser approval rating then Nixon during the Watergate Scandal (White House History). Finally on January 20th 1981, the fifty-two hostages were released, which was also the same day that Ronald Reagan was sworn into office (Lawson). Many people think that Carter wasn't as proactive as he couldn't been and attribute the release of the hostages to Reagan's campaign. But Ronald Reagan didn't have anything to do with the situation. The release was on inauguration day not a few day in. The success of Carter's campaign was handed over to Reagan along with the White House.

When I first began researching the topic I was certain that I would mention Argo,  the successful mission that brought home six American diplomats. Although incredible, I wanted to focus on something that I didn't know the answer to: What lead up to the Iranian Hostage Crisis? I was really intrigued by the history behind the event. It was also interesting to see how the relationship between the United States and Iran oscillated. When people mention the Iran Hostage Crisis they immediately think of Argo and the success  but I wanted to focus on the fifty-two diplomats that were left in the dark and the 444 days they endured in captivity.

Uncle Sam Takes a Stand

Uncle Sam Symbolic Character

These two posters also interested me. Both of them date back to the 1980's. In the poster on the left-handed side, Uncle Sam is clenching a newspaper with the headline "Hostages in Iran". In the poster on the right-hand side Uncle Sam is holding Ayatollah Khomeini. The reason I like these posters is because they symbolize strength. In both posters Uncle Sam is enraged and looks like he is not one to be reckoned with. Also, I found it humorous that the poster on the left side says, "Uncle Sam Wants To Kick Ass!". This is the first time I've seen propaganda that curses, let alone an Uncle Sam poster that cusses.



Sources:
BBC
White House History
Islamic Revolution of 1979- Krysta Wise
"Huffington Post's Howard Fineman talks politics and the internet"- University of Pennsylvania 
America Held Hostage- Don Lawson
New York Times
The Cold War Period- Leora Maltz
Fox News Reporting: Americans Held Hostage in Iran
VCE- "General Zahedi"
New York University- Shiva Balaghi
Islamic Republic of Iran- Iran Tracker