U.s. Relations With Iran

Iran was a major supplier of oil and in 1977, President Carter went there to celebrate the shah’s rule. This caused internal opposition against America and in 1979, a revolution ensued, over-throwing the shah and declaring Iran an Islamic republic. Because of Carter’s close relationship with the shah, he allowed him to seek medical treatment in the US. As a result of this, Khomeini, Muslim cleric who over-threw the shah, followers attacked and invaded the American embassy in Tehran, seizing 66 hostages. This directly shows that Carter’s bleeding heart policy was not always successful and led to a rapid fall in this popularity. Another failure, sometimes referred to as a greater crisis than WWII, of Carter’s foreign policy also began in 1979 and was initially seen more as America losing power because of Carter’s policy, not a direct result of anything he did. In 1979, the Soviet Union sent thousands of troops to Afghanistan to support a government threatened by an Islamic republic. In the end, Afghanistan became Soviet Vietnam, “an unwinnable conflict whose mounting causalities seriously weakened the government at home.” However, when Carter funneled aid to Muslims in Afghanistan to fight against the Soviet Union, an alliance formed that had unexpected consequences. This aid essentially helped Islamic fundamentalists, also known as the Taliban, rise to power in Afghanistan and America has been fighting them ever

The American public was so captivated by the Iran Hostage Crisis because they were blindsided by this radical action and their knowledge of America’s involvement in Iran was limited. The media played a major role in influencing their emotions and they already had trouble trusting the American government. This unknown involvement began in 1943 when President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin met in Tehran to discuss how to remove the British and Soviet military forces from Iran because Iran wanted to be its own nation. The United States aided the young Shah, the ruler of Iran, and his government with military weapons and loans. Over time, Prime Minister Mossadegh, of Iran, gained more and more power until he was the true ruler of Iran and the Shah was just a figurehead. The United States, fearing the spread of communism, devised a secret plan for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), to over throw Prime Minister Mossadegh.

and U.N. This causes these entities to impose sanctions and restrictions on these countries which in turn creates a more hostile environment to the global community (Bruno, 2011). While the U.S. combines efforts with Israel to gain intelligence on the support and aid of terrorist sponsoring states such as Iran and Syria, it gives the U.S. leverage in its other efforts against these states; such as Iran attempting to enrich Uranium causing further NATO sanctions. Additionally it could provide the U.S. insight on what other terrorist organizations Iran is sponsoring internationally, which would provide benefit to U.S. intelligence collections at home and abroad. Looking forward Israel will remain one of the U.S. largest assets in the region and due to its large military presence and the partnership of trade and intelligence in the region will greatly benefit the U.S. intelligence efforts in the Middle

The hostage situation received more coverage in the media and politics than any event since World War II. They were finally released in 1981. In 1985, the U.S provided weapons to Iran to fund operations to free American hostages in Lebanon. After embezzlements and illegal money transfers to South America, this incident threatened U.S political relations around the world. Later, the USS Vincennes shots down an Iranian passenger plane, killing 290 civilians en route to Mecca. The plane was mistaken for a fighter jet. 1997 brought the election of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami who declared an interest in mending relations with the U.S. The US would later call Iran a part of the “Axis of Evil (Bush) and infuriate Iranians world wide.

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.

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

Iran’s nuclear programme has in recent years worsened US-Iran relations. The United States accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons (Bahgat , 2009). Other reasons for mistrust include USA’s support for Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980’s. Specifically, Iran continues to resent the US supplying Iraq with the chemical weapons it used during the war. Adding fuel to the fire, in 1988, US guided missile Cruiser the USS Vincennes on station in the Persian Gulf mistakenly shot down Iranian Airlines flight 655 killing 290. (Milinski, n.d.)

The US government tried to negotiate, rescue and embargo Iran for the hostages taken under Carters administration. They were released when Reagan was elected. He dealt from a position of power and the Iranians respected that.

During his presidency, the Iran Hostage Crisis started when the Shah of Iran was overthrown from power and left Iran in January 1979. The United States supported the Shah as an ally of the United States from 1953 to 1979, even though he was excessive with punishments to the Iranian people. A radical leader named Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came to power in Iran when Shah returned in February 1979. Khomeini started major problems against the United States, known as the “Great Satan”. This group gave young Iranian students a reason to storm the U.S. Embassy and take 66 people hostage. The Iran Hostage Crisis, which lasted from 1979 to 1981, was the first time the United States was forced to deal with Islamic

This investigation determines to what extent American foreign policy, within the years 1953-1982, caused the Iranian embassy siege. Furthermore, it questions the role that the Carter and Kennedy administrations had in furthering the American agenda within Iran. In order to assess the role American influence played, this investigation evaluates the relations between the Carter administration and Mohammed Raza Pahlevi during his tenure as Shah. Carter’s Middle-Eastern foreign policy is examined to gain further insight into the influence that the United States had over Pahlevi. Also, the role that the televised address from

The Iranian Hostage Crisis wasn’t the result of a spontaneous uproar of the Iranian people in an overtaking of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran. Rather, the crisis was the result of a lengthy series of chaotic events that caused many of the Iranian people to develop a severe hatred of the United States.

“Remove all of the baggage- all of the ideology, the history …and look in purely geostrategic terms… it’s hard to figure out why the United States and Iran would necessarily be in conflict. In fact during the Shah’s era, before 1979- recognizing that there were all kinds of other problems- the Unites States and Iran worked together splendidly at the strategic level” ( qtd. in Addis). Initially, the United States and Iran maintained amicable relations but resentment rose in Iran over time toward the Americans. The Iran-contra with the United States lasted for more than a century, conflict beginning in the late 1800s until 1980. The Iran Hostage crisis on November 4th, 1979, served as the

The Iran Hostage Crisis, the beginning of United States interactions with Islamic extremists and economic reform in the middle east lasted from 1979 to 1981. The birth of these extremists lies in the economic policies of the United States and the middle east. The Shah, who was the supreme leader of the nation of Iran, was an ally of the United States for several decades. Despite his support from the U.S. government, he was known as a brutal leader who used excessive force and torture of his people, mostly Iranian students who spoke out against him. After decades of death, torture, abuse and other heinous crimes against humanity, the people of Iran began supporting Ayatollah Khomeini, a fundamentalist. To force events to transpire quicker, students took action by attacking the United States embassy and capturing hostages. These protestors saw the embassy as a physical representation of support for the Shah and his oppressive and cruel regime. The Americans who were working in the embassy on that day were taken hostage. What was suspected as being a relatively short hostage situation

In 1979, the United States of America was presented with a situation unlike any before: they received word that their embassy in Tehran, Iran, had been overtaken and all members of the embassy save six were being held hostage by Iranian revolutionaries. The road leading to this climactic period in American and Iranian history led back to almost thirty years of growing anti-American resentment. The Shah and the Supreme Ayatollah of Iran were at odds, creating a power struggle unlike any seen in modern history. The interaction of Western influence and Islamic culture and social structure reacted in an explosive way, culminating in what is now called the Iranian Hostage Crisis.

The United States has had some international issues with Middle Eastern countries in the past. It goes without saying; the most recent is the current gulf war led by George W. Bush and of course the previous gulf war led by his father George H.W. Bush. With neighboring Iran, there have been quarrels such as the Iran-Contra affair. This involved a political scandal in which Ronald Reagan's administration sold military arms to Iran. At this time they were in the midst of the Iran-Iraq War, while the United States had hostages held in Lebanon by Hezbollah. The United States hoped that Iran would influence Hezbollah to release the American hostages, but didn't. Finally, with Saudi Arabia also part of the Middle East, the United States