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Iran Between Iran And The United States

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The middle east, or more specifically Iran, has long been known for being ill at rest with the rest of the world and is also known for it 's sometimes violent means of negotiation in order to get what it wants. In November 1979 at the end of President Jimmy Carter 's term as President of the United States a group of 300-500 Islamic students known as “Imam 's Disciples” took over the United States embassy in Tehran, Iran. These students took over sixty American citizens hostage and held them for a total of 444 days. This event harbored more press coverage than any other event since World War II. In order to understand the reasoning behind this mass kidnapping and hostage taking, one must first look into the political climates of both …show more content…

The Shah ended the uprising by exiling the leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, to Iraq. This was the beginning of Iran 's Islamic revolution. After the run in with the Islamic clergy, the Shah remained friendly with the United States even though there was a growing movement to remove him as the head of Iran. In 1979 the Shah, facing growing dissent and being labeled as anti-Islamic, fled to Egypt to get away from the uprising. It was then, after fourteen years, that Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Iran. Little did anyone know, the Shah had been suffering from cancer and needed medical assistance to treat it. After much resistance and fearing the backlash from Iran, President Carter allowed the Shah to come to the United States for treatment. It was then that the United States embassy was attacked and the hostages taken. The incident began with the several hundred Iranian students posted outside of the embassy in protest of the United States taking in the Shah, their enemy. These students eventually breached the gates of the embassy, finding a weak point in one of the windows and pulling down a few bars in order to get in. In the mean time, those within the embassy were making phone calls and attempting to get immediate assistance. The calls were all in vain, as no one was prepared with

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