The U.S. Hostage Crisis in Iran
444 Days in Captivity
Jimmy Carter
Iran
39th President of the United States.
a republic in Southwest Asia, the capital is Teheran, formerly, until
1935, was Persia.
Iran Hostage Crisis On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the United States
Embassy in Tehran and took approximately seventy Americans
captive. This terrorist act triggered the most profound crisis of the
Carter presidency and began a personal ordeal for Jimmy Carter
and the American people that lasted 444 days.
Ayatollah Khomeini Iranian political and religious leader who lived from 1902 until
1989.
Robert C. Ode
was one of the fiftytwo American citizens taken hostage by Iranian
students in November 1979 at the American embassy in Tehran.
They were held for a total of 444 days and finally released, after
lengthy negotiations, on January 20, 1981.
SAVAK
The Shah regime's secret police
Depose
remove from office suddenly and forcefully.
 What is the United States official stance towards
terrorists?
 Has this position changed over time?
 What could force a change in how the United
States deals with terrorism?
Background of the Shah
First came to power
during WWII
 Deposed in the late
forties
 Reinstalled by a CIA-led
coup in 1953 approved
by the Eisenhower
administration

The “White Revolution”
 Divested the clergy of their vast landholdings
 Declared new rights for women
Right to vote
Right to attend university
 Dramatically increased urbanization and
industrialization
 Exiles the Ayatollah Khomeini after he criticizes
the Shah
Westernize or Bust!
 Most Iranians did not want to abandon their rich
heritage for Western Ways
 Found inspiration in the sermons of Muslim
leaders who denounced the material West
 The Shah maintained control with harsh
repression and brutality
SAVAK
Allah Hu Akbar, Marg Bar Shah!
Demonstrations
increased demanding the
shah be deposed
 Demonstrators
demanded the return of
the exiled Ayatollah
Khomeini
 The country was out of
control

Exit the Shah!
 Offers the premiership to Dr. Shahpur Bahktiar
 Leaves the country January 16, 1979
 The Ayatollah was invited back
 Tens of thousands of demonstrators demanded
the return of an Islamic state.
 Dr. Bahktiar leaves
Islamic State Returns
 Enemies of the Islamic Revolution are tried and
executed
 All political parties and organizations are banned
 Independent and non-Islamic newspapers are
closed.
 Banks and Industries are Nationalized.
Iranian Revolution Escalates

US interests in the Persian
Gulf are threatened.
No access to Iranian Oil
Cancellation of $7 billion of
uncompleted arms contracts

Anti American sentiment
runs high.
“Marg Bar Amrika!”
Sunday, November 4,
1979 the US Embassy in
Teheran is stormed
 Sixty-six hostages taken


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl
e-2291526/Frozen-time-The-eery-US-embassy-Iran-screaming-mobheld-52-citizens-hostage-1979museum-opens-just-days-year.html
Oh Canada!
Six Americans seek
refuge at the Canadian
Embassy
 Tense moments
 Ottawa and Canadian
Embassy prepare to
evacuate

Iran’s Hostage Demands
 Return the Shah for trial
 Return the Shah’s wealth to the people of Iran
 Admission of guilt by the US
 An apology and promise to stay out of Iran’s
affairs.
President Carter’s Response
Refused to send the
Shah back
 Froze all Iranian
Government financial
assets
 Forbade American
companies from buying
Iranian oil
 13 hostages freed

U.S. Reaction to Hostage Crisis
 Demonstrations at the Iranian Embassy in the
US
 Record sales of Iranian flags, which were then
burned
 Iranian Americans were harassed
Renewed Sense of Patriotism

CBS anchor Walter Cronkite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
TURbJcG3Wy8
Hostages became a national
obsession
 Penelope Laingen and the yellow
ribbon
America’s Frustration Grows
 On April 7, President Carter announces the
severing of diplomatic relations with Iran
 Complete economic embargo
 Inventory of financial claims against Iran to be
paid from Iranian assets in the U.S.
 All Iranian diplomats are told to leave the country
in 24 hours.
Operation Eagle Claw
April 24, 1980
 8 helicoptors from the
Nimitz were to
rendezvous with 6
transports at Desert One
 Then fly to Desert Two to
drive to Teheran where
the CIA had arranged for
several Iranians to help
storm the embassy

U.S. Aircraft Carrier Nimitz
Mission Aborted!
The first mission for the newly
formed Delta Force
 Pilots did not have
experience, flying at night,
flying low, and in sand storms.
 The sandstorm disabled three
helicoptors, one collided with
a transport and both burst into
flames killing eight Americans

President Carter Accepts Full
Blame
 Little hope for a second attempt because the
hostages were dispersed to various locations
 Carter’s popularity sinks
 The Shah dies in July
“On Wings of Eagles”
Ross Perot’s hires Col.
Bull Simon to rescue two
EDS employees in an
Iran prison.
 Successful mission
 Ken Follett novel

1980 Presidential Campaign
The Reagan-Bush team
realized that the hostage
issue would determine the
election
 Americans needed to hear
stirring phrases of national
purpose, and believe in the
future.
 Wins by a landslide, Nov. 4
 Started selling arms to the
Contra rebels in Nicaragua,
using the money to pay Iran
ransom

The Hostages are Freed
Carter released $8 billion
in frozen Iranian assets
the morning of the
inauguration
 The hostages board
planes
 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/
amex/carter/peopleevent
s/e_hostage.html

Where Are They Now?
The Shah’s son
atteneded school at USC
 Trained as a pilot in the
US Airforce
 Acknowledges some of
the evil that his father
was accused of
 Is gathering support to
return to Iran
