The Effects of the Iranian Hostage Crisis

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.

For most Americans, the story begins in 1979 with the Iranian Hostage Crisis, when a group of revolutionary university students took over the American Embassy in Tehran, Iran, and held 52 American diplomats, intelligence officers and Marines hostage for 444 days. But for most Iranians, and to fully understand the repercussions of this aforementioned event, the story begins almost three decades prior, in 1953. This was the year that the United States overthrew the recently established democracy in Iran, led by Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh. He had become very popular in the country for having the ambition to finally take advantage of the wealth that Iran needed to grow

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 will include secondary documents and books pertaining to the hostage time in Iran and US foreign policy. Speeches from the US President to the American public and to the world will also be analyzed. Information gathered will be evaluated in regards to their origin, purpose, value, and limitations. Research includes a book that analyzes why students invaded the US embassy in 1979, and why the Carter rescue mission failed so

Not only did the American public hope to be able to rely on and trust their federal government, but they also desired strong management of foreign affairs. During the Presidency of Jimmy Carter, America faced many blunders overseas. One particular high-profile issue was the Iranian Hostage Crisis where, “Iranian students stormed the U.S embassy in Tehran and took 53 Americans hostage,” and the attempted rescue of said hostages which resulted in a collision between two helicopters and eight dead marines (Davidson, et al 937). The Carter Administration’s handle on foreign affairs proved to be disastrous. As a result, the Republican party’s platform for the election of 1980, in which Carter was running for reelection, focused heavily on

Imagine being held hostage for four hundred and forty four days. The thought alone is scary but this was reality for Fifty-three Americans when they was held hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran. This was a tough situation because America and Iran had bigger problems to deal with. Insurgency broke out and former King Reza Shah Pahlavi was forced into exile by the people of Iran. The United States backed the former King and when Pahlavi came to America looking for refuge this caused a serious situation. The United States learned that Pahlavi had cancer and made a choice to let him in for treatment. This angered the people of Iran and forced Iranian students to protest outside of the American embassy. On

In his book All the Shah’s Men, Stephen Kinzer tells the story behind the coup that took place in Iran in 1953 and how US-Iranian relations were impacted as a result. To give a full picture of the events that transpired before the coup, Kinzer goes above and beyond and recounts the history of Persia going back to the founding of the Achaemenid Empire in 550 BC, giving the reader an excellent overview of the long history of the region. He then goes on to recount the root causes and events that led up to the coup and then covers the coup itself. Kinzer then devotes the last 40 pages going over the events that happened after the coup and the consequences that both nations have suffered for it. Kinzer’s point of view on this subject was obvious

The Iran Hostage Crisis was a discretionary standoff between Iran and the United States. In 1979, a group of Iranian students went to the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking more than 60 American hostages. Fifty-two hostages were held for 444 days, from November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981. The reputation of Iran's leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, started to become awful as the Hostage Crisis kept going. Ayatollah Khomeini was the Iranian Shia Muslim religious leader and politician and he made several demands that needed to be met before the hostages were released. The Iran Hostage Crisis caused the United States to cut ties with Iran and was an exemplary demonstration of America’s resolve to ensure the safe return of our citizens.

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.

The Iran Hostage Crisis lasted for 444 days and went from 4 November 1979 to 20 January 1981. This crisis happened only after a long time friend and ally, the Shah of Iran, was ousted from power and left Iran in January 1979. A revolutionary leader named Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came to power in Iran when he returned in February 1979. Khomeini started rhetoric against the United States as the "Great Satan" that provided young Iranian students a reason to storm the U.S. Embassy and take 66 people hostage. Fourteen people where released during the hostage crisis leaving 52 remaining. (1)

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.

On November 4, 1979, an angry mob of some 300 to 500 supposed “students” who called themselves “Imam’s Disciples,” laid siege to the American Embassy in Tehran, Iran. The mob held 66 U.S. citizens and diplomats as hostages. Women and African-Americans were released a short while later, but 52 hostages still remained for 444 days. The president took precautions to ensure the safety of the hostages as well as U.S. relations in Iran. This terrorist act triggered the most profound crisis of the Carter presidency and began a personal ordeal for Jimmy Carter and the American people. The events in the Iran Hostage Crisis demonstrate how bad the president at the time, Jimmy Carter, can handle such a horrible situation.

The target reaction was unprepared, slow, original, and catastrophic. The reaction of the embassy staff was slow, unprepared and disorganized. Since the revolution the embassy had reduced its staff from several thousand down to less than 100 (Bowden, 2006, p. 19). The U. S. Marines stationed at the embassy were given orders not to shoot, but they could and did use tear gas. When the staff realized what was going on, several had already been taken hostage and they retreated to the second floor secure room and third floor vault in the Chancery. There they continued to destroy sensitive documents and dispose of weapons fearing what the students may do if they find them. When the staff in the embassy in communication

The 1970s is described as the Era of Limits, a decade when Americans were criticized for being self-absorbed. However, in 1979, American anxiety and the public concern towards the impact of the rise of radical Islam tends to contradict the claim of the widespread selfishness amongst the American people. The Iranian hostage crisis, which lasted for four hundred and forty days, from 1979 to 1981, was a defining moment in the history of United States and Iran’s relations. David Farber, in his book, Taken Hostage: The Iran Hostage Crisis and America 's First Encounter with Radical Islam, narrates a detailed account of this relations in five insightful chapters. He concentrates on the emergence of radical Islamic fundamentalism led by Ayatollah

If you want to blame someone for the Hostage Crisis, blame the former Iranian Shah who was exiled from the country. While in exile, the Shah developed a fatal cancer and the president at the time, Jimmy Carter, allowed him to come to the U.S. for treatment. This was the last straw for Iran. The US had already been interfering and causing Iran’s economy to suffer because they feared of a nuclear development happening in Iran. On November 4, 1979, a mob of Iranians stormed the U.S. Embassy and took everyone inside hostage. They took 66

The Middle East was one of the main areas of the world which the US aimed to prevent a Communist reign. After Iran broke off from Great Britain in 1952, America disband aid to the Iranian economy and “left a running wound that bled for twenty-five years and contaminated relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran” (Richman, Sheldon L. 5). It wasn’t until the mid 1970’s that the US began a CIA operation to create chaos in Iran to overthrow and capture Mossadegh, a man with Communist ideals, while simultaneously reinstating the previous Shah, therefore providing oil to America and Britain. America continued to aid the Shah and his corrupt government for the following years, creating a difficult environment for the people of Iran. This corruption and negative impacts on Iranian civilians lead to an internal revolution in the late 1979 that ended with the death of the Shah. Iranians then held American hostages at the US Embassy in Iran, which is the inspiration for the movie Argo (Richman, Sheldon L.