The Iran Hostage Crisis and the United States

The Iranian hostage crisis was one of the most dramatic events in a series of problems that took place during President Jimmy Carter’s term. The crisis, beginning in November of 1979, received the most coverage of any major event since World War II. It was one of many problems faced in light of the United State’s complex relationship with Iran. The effects on both the US and Iran were astronomical, especially politically as well as economically and socially. It took a heavy toll on American relations with the Middle East and changed the way we engage in foreign affairs. In light of this crisis, Iran started an international war that we are still fighting thirty-two years later.

Wikipedia, Hector Villalon and Christian Bourget began the initial negotiations for the release of the hostages. They “delivered a formal request to Panama for extradition of the Shah” which was "a pretext to cover secret negotiations to free the American hostages." This happened as the Soviets invaded Iran's neighbor Afghanistan an event America hoped would "illustrate the threat" of its superpower neighbor and need for better relations with the

On David Farber 's book Taken Hostage, Farber informs us about the Iran Hostage Crisis and America 's First Encounter with Radical Islam. This book tells us how the United States and Iran got into conflict, leading to the Iranians holding American Embassy members hostage as revenge for them feeling betrayed by the United States. It also informs us about other events that occurred in a decade that caused the United States many problems. Farber talked about all the events that lead to the Iranian Hostage Crisis. November 4, 1979, seizure of the United States embassy in Tehran and the hostage of four hundred and forty four days following, were the first steps leading up to the perpetual War on Terror. Farber believes the failure from American policymakers and more specifically from President Carter, to identify the severity of the crisis made for the prolonged crisis. The sheer ineptitude of Carter administration was the cost of the US to lose it’s way economically, culturally, politically and even military. Carter struggled to respond to the impulses of Islamic fundamentalism within the prevailing Cold War paradigm. They saw the real battle as against secular modernism and they recognized that the US was the major force spreading this cultural and political belief throughout the world. The media misrepresentations of the struggle and mass media manipulation of Americans played on the peoples emotions. Although Carter was popular at the beginning of his presidency, this began

There was once time of prosperity and hope in this great nation. A time where it seemed that nothing could go wrong and a time that America seemed to be on top of the world as a powerhouse; however, by the late 1970’s, that time was no more. America went from an economic powerhouse to a country struggling to survive. America went from the land of the free and the home of the brave to citizens having no identity of patriotism following the Vietnam War. America went from doing the attacking and righting the wrong in the world, to being harassed and taken advantage of. This harassment is told through David Farber’s novel, Taken Hostage, which details the hostage takeover that involved sixty-six American citizens who had to endure 444 agonizing days of being taken hostage because America was no longer in control. During the time of the Iranian hostage crisis, Americans were held back by the tragedy for numerous reasons, many of which stem from the immediate reaction of combined shock and frustration towards the United States Government and President Carter, a lack of knowledge of the ongoing strained relationship between the two countries, and finally, the surprising tension and ineffectiveness of the Carter Administration’s foreign policy.

November 4, 1979, seizure of the United States embassy in Tehran and the hostage of four hundred and forty-four days following, were the first steps leading up to the perpetual War on Terror. In the book Taken Hostage by David Farber informs about the Iran Hostage Crisis and the First Encounter with Radical Islam. United States and Iran got into conflict, leading to the Iranians holding American Embassy members hostage as revenge for them feeling betrayed by the United States. It also informs us about other events that occurred in a decade that caused the United States many problems. Farber believes the failure of American policymakers and more specifically from President Carter, to identify the severity of the crisis made for the prolonged crisis. The sheer ineptitude of the Carter administration was the cost of the US to lose it’s way economically, culturally, politically and even military. Carter struggled to respond to the impulses of Islamic fundamentalism within the prevailing Cold War paradigm. They saw the real problem as against modernism and they knew that the US was the major force spreading this belief throughout the world. The media misrepresentations of the struggle and mass media manipulation of Americans played on the peoples emotions. Although Carter was popular at the beginning of his presidency, this began to change when he was unable to solve economic problems and was unsuccessful in negotiating the release of the American hostages in Iran.

“The Shah, who had been in exile, contacted the United States and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) put together Operation AJAX to drive Mossadegh from Iran and put himself back in power.” The Shah also followed up on the United States idea and he started a unique police group that was officially called SAVAX. The CIA trained these people and they were not really big fans of the Iranian people. This group had special skills that one police officer normally wouldn’t have, all of the members of SAVAX also had the talent of spying which was used for listening in on the Iranian citizens.

Plan of Investigation The purpose of this investigation is to answer the question on how did the Iranian Hostage Crisis affect the relationship between United States and Iran. The main body of evidence will observe in depth the Iranian and United States relations during the hostage crisis. Evidence of this investigation

The people of Iran became angry that the United States would allow the Shah to seek medical treatment in the US, and overtook the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Many of them feared that the United States planned to return to Iran and reinstate Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi as their leader, because of the close diplomatic ties that had been established with him. The United States had helped him to overthrow Iran’s Prime Minister during a power struggle in 1953 and modernize Iran (“The Hostage Crisis in Iran”). The Iranian protesters- many of whom were college students- took hostages, 66 of the hostages holding American citizenship, and refused to release them until the Unites States stopped helping the Shah and turned him over to them. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini decided to support the actions of the student protesters, and dissolved treaties that had been made with the Soviet Union and the United States, preventing international intervention towards the violent protests in Iran. Premier Mehdi Bazargan and most of the

Mosaddeq supervised a nationalist party that sought to end all foreign intrusion in Iranian affairs. He sought to nationalize the oil industry, whereas, the shah promoted a privatized system (“Iran Hostage Crisis”: Wright 1). Also known as the Iranian Coup D’état of 1953, the United States aided the Shah to overthrow the government of Premier Mohammed Mosaddeq. Joined with the Shah, the Central Intelligence Agency, more commonly known as the CIA, and the British intelligence engineered a plan to depose Mosaddeq. The Shah bribed powerful figures, planted false reports in newspapers and provoked street violence as methods of disposing of Mosaddeq (Wright 22). President Dwight D. Eisenhower agreed and ordered the CIA to embark on Operation TP- Ajax to dispose of Mosaddeq and install a new government by the Shah (Cohen, p. 57). The United States and Iran became official allies.

The American government is known to promote democratic values throughout the world. Though the ideals America was fighting for during the Cold War, the government still managed to participate in the overthrow of democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossadegh. Mossadegh threatened to nationalize Iran’s oil in 1951 and later gained the support of the Iranian government. The British companies had many investments in Iranian oil. It is with the approval of nationalization that the economies of both British and Iran were ultimately harmed. The British government requested the help of the US so that they could perform a coup to overthrow Mossadegh. With suspicions of Mossadegh supporting communism, and being supported by the Tudeh Party, the United States government was willing to sacrifice their democratic ideologies and credibility in the region for the insurance of an anti-communist leader. This would prove to cause problems that still resonate in today’s political and military negotiations in this region.

By 1951 Mohammad Mossadegh had established himself firmly in the political scene in the mountainous country of Iran. Mossadegh ran for the office of Prime Minister with just one campaign promise: to free Iran from the British imperial yoke (Gavin, 1999, p.64). He had also built his political strength, based largely on his call to nationalize the concession and installations in Iran of the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (Risen, 2000, p.10). Mossadegh embodied the fierce nationalistic pride felt by so many Iranians, this brought Mohammad Mossadegh an easy victory (Gregory,1951,p.31). On May Day 1951, after three days of raging Pro-Mossadegh rioting, Mossadegh announced that the Majlis had passed the Nationalization Act, despite strong opposition by many members of the Majlis (Gavin,1999, 65). By this time Mossadegh's power had grown so great that the Shah (monarchy) was virtually forced to appoint him Premier. Even after being appointed to the Premiership, popularity continued to skyrocket for Mossadegh. Mossadegh's popularity, growing power, and intransigence on the oil issue were creating friction between the prime minister and the Shah.

The origin of this source is valuable because Abrahamian is a well written author on the history of Iran and has published multiple other books on the political system of Iran. Additionally, Abrahamian teaches at the City University of New York as Professor Emeritus of Iranian and Middle Eastern history and politics. This source is also limited in the fact that this book is written by a Persian author and this brings in a possibility of Bias as there were many views the Persian people had on the coup. The purpose of this source is to outline CIA's involvement in overthrowing the Shah and the beginning of the Modern U.S.-Iranian Relations. This book provides a valuable insight into how the U.S. was a cause of the revolution and how they instituted a weak Shah to create a more controllable country and a puppet government. This was also in the favor of the U.S. because of Iran had an auspicous oil industry. Abrahamian challenges conventional interpretations of the events that fail to highlight how the coupling of oil and Iranian nationalism motivated the CIAs

What might be going on in their minds for the hostages, is If they are going to come out of this situation alive. If they will be able to see their loved ones again. Is there a way out. Why them and why now. As for the Hostage takers in their minds they are probably thinking how things escalated so quickly. It was probably not meant to go that far. They have to decide whether they will go out guns blazing or surrender, during the hostage situation. After the hostages are released, there should be an immediate intervention. To increase their personal recovery. Follow up resources for hostages can include counseling and therapy. Multicultural considerations to take into account can be language. Possibly not all of the hostages are able to speak

The Iran hostage crises ushered an era in which the greatest foreign policy challenges facing the US were the threats posed by conflicts in the Middle East. Today, the US still finds itself facing similar threats in this region. The Iraq and Afghanistan wars, diplomatic struggles with Iran, and the continous threat of terrorism continue to create problems for tge

A hostage situation can arise from many different activities such as terrorist, a bank robbery, riots, or when a crime is in progress. Hostage takers may be mentally unstable and have all sorts of personal problems and do not seek for help. A hostage situation is a scary thing to be in because anybody can get hurt whether is a police officer or the people that are being held hostage. Police officers response to the situation into three broad categories; do nothing and wait out the hostage taker, attack or assault the hostage taker’s position, or negotiate with the hostage taker. Although, none of these options seem to satisfy anybody it is taken from the perspective of keeping the officers and the hostages safe. Also there is another different