Analysis
Fear, isolation, and dread; these were feelings everyday that went through hostages during the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis. The crisis shook thousands American people as 52 of their friends and family were being held on foreign soil under violent terms. On November 4, 1979 Iranian students marched to the U.S. embassy in Iran and violently took over the embassy while holding over 60 hostages. The embassies in Iran have had brief assaults before, however, when staff saw the firearms carried by the students, they knew this would be no ordinary “sit-in”. The students released few hostages over time, but kept 52 American hostages for 444 days.
Jimmy Carter was halfway through his first term as the president of the United States when the radicals seized the U.S. embassy and took hostages. President Carter immediately wrote a letter to the current leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, urging for the hostages to be released. After Khomeini refused to act on president Carter's proposal, Carter issued a rescue attempt on the hostages. April 24th, the day the complex rescue mission was to take place, 3 out of the 8 helicopters were lost due to a dust storm, killing 8 United States soldiers. The rescue mission was called off and carter was forced to freeze billions in Iranian assets in hope that the hostages would be released. Negotiations began between the United States and the Iranian Government and on January 20th, 1981, hours after Reagan was instated as president, 52 hostages were safely released into U.S. custody.
There are a ton of different theories as to how this entire crisis began. However, the crisis was inevitable. With all of the unwanted past between the two countries, a final push into just the wrong direction would eventually lead to crisis just like this one. The widely talked of reason for the crisis falls upon the Shah. The Shah is a title of the former monarch of Iran. At the time, the Shah was a pro-western autocrat who had been expelled from his country some months before. He was not liked by the public of Iran and was it wasnt unknown that the US was the Shahs final destination. Eventually the Shah became ill with cancer and fled to the US, as expected. Carter allowed his entry to the US as what he had believed as a kind gesture for cancer treatment. This caused the exact opposite reaction, this filled the people of Iran with rage. Some thought the US to be traitors or what they called it "Pro-Shah", so they went after the embassy.
Jimmy Carter was halfway through his first term as the president of the United States when the radicals seized the U.S. embassy and took hostages. President Carter immediately wrote a letter to the current leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, urging for the hostages to be released. After Khomeini refused to act on president Carter's proposal, Carter issued a rescue attempt on the hostages. April 24th, the day the complex rescue mission was to take place, 3 out of the 8 helicopters were lost due to a dust storm, killing 8 United States soldiers. The rescue mission was called off and carter was forced to freeze billions in Iranian assets in hope that the hostages would be released. Negotiations began between the United States and the Iranian Government and on January 20th, 1981, hours after Reagan was instated as president, 52 hostages were safely released into U.S. custody.
There are a ton of different theories as to how this entire crisis began. However, the crisis was inevitable. With all of the unwanted past between the two countries, a final push into just the wrong direction would eventually lead to crisis just like this one. The widely talked of reason for the crisis falls upon the Shah. The Shah is a title of the former monarch of Iran. At the time, the Shah was a pro-western autocrat who had been expelled from his country some months before. He was not liked by the public of Iran and was it wasnt unknown that the US was the Shahs final destination. Eventually the Shah became ill with cancer and fled to the US, as expected. Carter allowed his entry to the US as what he had believed as a kind gesture for cancer treatment. This caused the exact opposite reaction, this filled the people of Iran with rage. Some thought the US to be traitors or what they called it "Pro-Shah", so they went after the embassy.