[124] Three aircraft, outfitted with rocket thrusters to allow an extremely short landing and takeoff in the Shahid Shiroudi football stadium near the embassy, were modified under a rushed, top-secret program known as Operation Credible Sport. [79] In America, an Iranian chargé d'affaires, Ali Agha, stormed out of a meeting with an American official, exclaiming: "We are not mistreating the hostages. "[112], According to Bowden, a pattern emerged in President Carter's attempts to negotiate the hostages' release: "Carter would latch on to a deal proffered by a top Iranian official and grant minor but humiliating concessions, only to have it scotched at the last minute by Khomeini."[113]. In the foreign affairs arena, he reopened U.S. relations with China and made efforts to broker ...read more, During the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a tense, 13-day political and military standoff in October 1962 over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores. 6 saw a warning light indicating that a main rotor might be cracked. [67] After the Shah entered the United States, Ayatollah Khomeini called for street demonstrations. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... See Article History. Late in the afternoon of April 24, 1980, eight RH‑53D helicopters flew from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz to a remote road serving as an airstrip in the Great Salt Desert of Eastern Iran, near Tabas. When the authorities encouraged them to chant "death to America," the protesters instead chanted "death to the dictator" (referring to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) and other anti-government slogans.[142]. [55] His initial response was to appeal for the release of the hostages on humanitarian grounds and to share his hopes for a strategic anti-communist alliance with the Ayatollah. In fact, it served as a model for other covert operations during the Cold War, such as the 1954 government takeover in Guatemala and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba in 1961. It lost international support for its war against Iraq, and the negotiated settlement was considered almost wholly favorable to the United States because it did not meet any of Iran's original demands. [88] All of the hostages "were threatened repeatedly with execution, and took it seriously. The U.S. maintained that the Shah – who was to die less than a year later, in July 1980 – had come to America for medical attention. The Ayatollah installed a militant Islamist government in its place. Carter approved a hostage rescue mission by an elite paramilitary unit, the American commandos led by Colonel Charles Beckwith.6 It was a dismal failure. The hostage crisis in Iran came to an end after 444 days. Thirteen hostages were released November 19–20, 1979, and one was released on July 11, 1980. Others went to the Swedish Embassy in Tehran for three months. The Iran hostage crisis negotiations were negotiations in 1980 and 1981 between the United States Government and the Iranian Government to end the Iranian hostage crisis. On Election Day, one year and two days after the hostage crisis began, Reagan defeated Carter in a landslide. (Reagan himself always denied these allegations.) [35] Kraus was injured in the attack, kidnapped by the militants, tortured, tried, and convicted of murder. On the other hand, Khoeiniha knew that if Khomeini first saw that the occupiers were faithful supporters of him (unlike the leftists in the first occupation) and that large numbers of pious Muslims had gathered outside the embassy to show their support for the takeover, it would be "very hard, perhaps even impossible," for him to oppose the takeover, and this would paralyze the Bazargan administration, which Khoeiniha and the students wanted to eliminate.[46]. However, in October 1979 President Carter agreed to allow the exiled leader to enter the U.S. for treatment of an advanced malignant lymphoma. Bruce Laingen, hostage and former charge d’affaires to the embassy in Iran on the operation: “While no day hurts more — than today and always — than the day when these brave men lost their lives in an attempt to reach us, no day makes us more proud as well, because of the way in which they stood for that cause of human freedom. However, many Iranians bitterly resented what they saw as American intervention in their affairs. Bob Woodward and Walter Pincus have reported in the Washington Post and Alfonso Chardy in the Miami Herald that three Reagan campaign aides met in a Washington DC hotel in early October, 1980, with a self-described "Iranian exile" who offered, on behalf of the Iranian government, to release the hostages to Reagan, not Carter, in order to ensure Carter's defeat in the November 4, 1980 election. [61] Cuba and its socialist ally Venezuela, under Hugo Chávez, would later form ALBA in alliance with the Islamic Republic as a counter to neoliberal American influence. In cooperation with the CIA, which used the cover story of a film project, two CIA agents and the six American diplomats boarded a Swissair flight to Zurich, Switzerland, on January 28, 1980. The students set their hostages free on January 21, 1981, 444 days after the crisis began and just hours after President Ronald Reagan delivered his inaugural address. The Republican candidate, former California governor Ronald Reagan, took advantage of Carter’s difficulties. [132][133] The flight continued to Rhein-Main Air Base in West Germany and on to an Air Force hospital in Wiesbaden, where former President Carter, acting as emissary, received them. They are being very well taken care of in Tehran. Six American diplomats who had evaded capture had been rescued by a joint CIA–Canadian effort on January 27, 1980. [15], In February 1979, less than a year before the crisis, the Pahlavi dynasty was overthrown during the Iranian Revolution. 507–11, Queen, in Bowden 2006, p. 258, Metrinko, in Bowden 2006, p. 284, Malcolm Kalp in Bowden 2006, pp. "[141], Some[who?] Espionage Den (Persian: اسناد لانه جاسوسی امریكا‎). When the embassy guards brandished firearms, the protesters retreated, with one telling the Americans, "We don't mean any harm. [44], According to the group and other sources, Ayatollah Khomeini did not know of the plan beforehand. Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran[3][4] and seized hostages. They were not allowed to speak or read, and they were rarely permitted to change clothes. However, on November 4, 2009, pro-democracy protesters and reformists demonstrated in the streets of Tehran. Iran selected Algeria as its protecting power in the United States, transferring the mandate to Pakistan in 1992. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. The failed rescue attempt and the political danger of any move seen as accommodating America delayed a negotiated release of the hostages. During the Second World War, the British and the Soviet governments dispatched troops to occupy Iran to force the abdication of first Pahlavi monarch Reza Shah Pahlavi, in favor of his eldest son, Crown Prince Mohammad. The report found that the pilot could have continued to the refueling point if he had been told that better weather awaited him there, but because of the command for radio silence, he did not ask about the conditions ahead. Three of the hostages were operatives of the CIA. They originally won the case when Iran failed to provide a defense, but the State Department then tried to end the lawsuit,[144] fearing that it would make international relations difficult. The Iran hostage crisis had its origins in a series of events that took place nearly a half-century before it began. [166][167], Over 80 songs have been released about or referencing the Iran hostage crisis.[168]. The crisis reached a climax after diplomatic negotiations failed to win the release of the hostages. On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking more than 60 American hostages. In April 1980, after months of negotiations failed to result in the release of the hostages, the United States broke off diplomatic relations with Iran. The 2012 Hollywood movie Argo was based on the Canadian Caper rescue. They encountered severe dust storms that disabled two of the helicopters, which were traveling in complete radio silence. Hostages in Iran Fly to Freedom After 444-Day Ordeal", "Iranian Hostages Released – 1981 Year in Review – Audio", "The Republican myth of Ronald Reagan and the Iran hostages, debunked", "Did Iran Delay Hostages Release To Ensure Reagan's Election? [68], Revolutionary teams displayed secret documents purportedly taken from the embassy, sometimes painstakingly reconstructed after shredding,[62] to buttress their claim that "the Great Satan" (the U.S.) was trying to destabilize the new regime and that Iranian moderates were in league with the U.S. [138] Nevertheless, the crisis strengthened Iranians who had supported the hostage-taking. At about 6:30 a.m., the ringleaders gathered between three hundred and five hundred selected students and briefed them on the battle plan. [19][20][21] The U.S. continued to support and fund the Shah after the coup, with the Central Intelligence Agency training SAVAK (the Iranian secret service). After medical check-ups and debriefings, the hostages made a second flight to a refueling stop in Shannon, Ireland, where they were greeted by a large crowd. They were blindfolded and paraded in front of TV cameras and jeering crowds. [12], Political analysts cited the standoff as a major factor in the continuing downfall of Carter's presidency and his landslide loss in the 1980 presidential election;[13] the hostages were formally released into United States custody the day after the signing of the Algiers Accords, just minutes after American President Ronald Reagan was sworn into office. [163][164] In 1992, Gary Sick, the former national security adviser to Ford and Carter, presented the strongest accusations in an editorial that appear in The New York Times, and others, including former Iranian president Abolhassan Banisadr, repeated and added to them. On the day the hostages were seized, six American diplomats evaded capture and remained in hiding at the home of the Canadian diplomat John Sheardown, under the protection of the Canadian ambassador, Ken Taylor. The report by Holloway's group pointed out that a cracked helicopter blade could have been used to continue the mission and that its likelihood of catastrophic failure would have been low for many hours, especially at lower flying speeds. Two of them, William Belk and Kathryn Koob, recalled being paraded blindfolded before an angry, chanting crowd outside the embassy. Carter ordered the U.S. military to attempt a rescue mission – Operation Eagle Claw – using warships that included USS Nimitz and USS Coral Sea, which were patrolling the waters near Iran. The former hostages and their relatives were transported to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The hostage-takers, declaring their solidarity with other "oppressed minorities" and "the special place of women in Islam," released one woman and two African Americanson November 19. A severe backlash against Iranians in the United States developed. After the mission and its failure were made known publicly, Khomeini credited divine intervention on behalf of Islam, and his prestige skyrocketed in Iran. They landed in the desert, confirmed visually that a crack had started to develop, and stopped flying in accordance with normal operating procedure. [165] This alleged plot to influence the outcome of the 1980 United States presidential election between Carter and Reagan became known as the October Surprise conspiracy theory. The first time, he was kept in handcuffs for two weeks,[91] and the second time, he was beaten and kept alone in a freezing cell for two weeks. Former Embassy of Iran in Washington, D.C. However, the hostage-taking was about more than the Sha… The embassy's staff was reduced to just over 60 from a high of nearly one thousand earlier in the decade. [94] Jerry Miele, a CIA communication technician, smashed his head into the corner of a door, knocking himself unconscious and cutting a deep gash. The Algiers Accords of 1981 was very essential for peace with the United States for affairs with foreign countries The Algiers accord was drawn up and ratified, ending the 444 days of conflict." Due to depletion of the fund, by February 2019, only 17.8% of the legislated amount had been paid to the freed hostages and their direct families. [60] Fidel Castro reportedly praised Khomeini as a revolutionary anti-imperialist who could find common cause between revolutionary socialists and anti-American Islamists. In September 1980 Iraq invaded Iran, beginning the Iran–Iraq War. The report also concluded that "there were ways to pass the information" between the refueling station and the helicopter force "that would have small likelihood of compromising the mission" – in other words, that the ban on communication had not been necessary at this stage. On Jan. 20, 1981, 52 American hostages were released by Iran after 444 days in captivity. Mosaddegh led a general strike on behalf of the Iranian public, demanding an increased share of the nation's petroleum revenue from foreign oil companies operating in Iran, most notably the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. New York: Random House, 2004.). Hostages in Iran Fly to Freedom After 444-Day Ordeal", "52 FORMER HOSTAGES START READAPTING IN U.S. AIR FORCE HOSPITAL IN GERMANY", "NEWBURGH, N.Y. FORMER HOSTAGES HOME FROM IRAN, FAMILIES JOIN THEM AT WEST POINT; PRESIDENT LEADS NATION IN THANKS", "HOSTAGES' PARADE SET A RECORD, DIDN'T IT? The misfire caused a hard touchdown that tore off the starboard wing and started a fire, but all on board survived. Documents were later found in the embassy suggesting that some staff members had been working with the Central Intelligence Agency. The crisis is considered a pivotal episode in the history of Iran–United States relations. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Accordingly, both groups favored the Soviet Union over the United States in the early months of the Iranian Revolution. "Announcing our objections from within the occupied compound would carry our message to the world in a much more firm and effective way. Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. The constant media coverage of the hostage crisis in the U.S. served as a demoralizing backdrop for the 1980 presidential race. Theocratic Islamists, as well as leftist political groups like the socialist People's Mujahedin of Iran,[58] supported the taking of hostages as a counterattack against "American imperialism." Persistent but unproven accusations that Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign negotiated a secret deal with Iran to prevent the release of American hostages … By embracing the hostage-taking under the slogan "America can't do a thing," Khomeini rallied support and deflected criticism of his controversial theocratic constitution,[63] which was scheduled for a referendum vote in less than one month. 2 experienced a partial hydraulic system failure but was able to fly on for four hours to the refueling location. W hen the Iran Hostage Crisis ended on this day, Jan. 20, in 1981, 52 Americans were freed after being subjected to “acts of barbarism,” as President Carter phrased it, for 444 days. The deal that freed them reached between the United States and Iran and brokered by Algeria in January 1981 prevented the hostages from claiming any restitution from Iran due to foreign sovereign immunity and an executive agreement known as the Algiers Accords, which barred such lawsuits. President Carter’s efforts to bring an end to the hostage crisis soon became one of his foremost priorities. and the British intelligence service devised a secret plan to overthrow Mossadegh and replace him with a leader who would be more receptive to Western interests. The Shah's admission to the United States intensified Iranian revolutionaries' anti-Americanism and spawned rumors of another U.S.–backed coup that would re-install him. In 1979, the … [53], A State Department diplomatic cable of November 8, 1979, details "A Tentative, Incomplete List of U.S. On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking more than 60 American hostages. [17], By the 1950s Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was engaged in a power struggle with Iran's prime minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh, an immediate descendant of the preceding Qajar dynasty. © 2021 A&E Television Networks, LLC. The only hostage serviceman not issued the medal was Staff Sgt Joseph Subic, Jr., who "did not behave under stress the way noncommissioned officers are expected to act"[158] – that is, he cooperated with the hostage-takers, according to other hostages.[159]. They enlisted the support of police officers in charge of guarding the embassy and of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards. Below is an overview of the long-running conflict between Iran and the United States—and measures taken (economic and otherwise) in the wake of flare ...read more, By the early 1970s, American oil consumption–in the form of gasoline and other products–was rising even as domestic oil production was declining, leading to an increasing dependence on oil imported from abroad. Iran, at last, released the hostages on January 20, 1981, just moments after Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as the new U.S. president. Iran Hostage Crisis Fast Facts. [160] After failing in the courts, the former hostages turned to Congress and won support from both Democrats and Republicans, resulting in Congress passing a bill (2015 United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Act [USVSST]) in December 2015 that afforded the hostages compensation from a fund to be financed from fines imposed on companies found guilty of breaking American sanctions against Iran. They are our guests. ", "New Reports Say 1980 Reagan Campaign Tried to Delay Hostage Release", "Former secretary of state Warren Christopher dies at 85", "Reagan Takes Oath as 40th President; Promises an 'Era of National Renewal'- Minutes Later, 52 U.S. In Khomeini's statements, imperialism and liberalism were "negative words," while revolution "became a sacred word, sometimes more important than Islam. This severed the usual relationship between pilots and weather forecasters; the pilots were not informed about the local dust storms. [125] One crashed during a demonstration at Eglin Air Force Base on October 29, 1980, when its braking rockets were fired too soon. Personnel Being Held in the Embassy Compound."[54]. Asgharzadeh later said there were five students at the first meeting, two of whom wanted to target the Soviet Embassy because the USSR was "a Marxist and anti-God regime". These events led the Iranian government to enter negotiations with the U.S., with Algeria acting as a mediator. [118] Vance, struggling with gout, went to Florida on Thursday, April 10, 1980, for a long weekend. [47], At first, the students planned a symbolic occupation, in which they would release statements to the press and leave when government security forces came to restore order. [25] But in response to pressure from influential figures including former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Council on Foreign Relations Chairman David Rockefeller, the Carter administration decided to grant it.[27][28][29][30]. The new leader was a member of Iran’s royal family named Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi. The overriding issue was operational security – that is, keeping the mission secret so that the arrival of the rescue team at the embassy would be a complete surprise. Secrets", "Secrecy & Government Bulletin, Issue 70", "Man of the Year: The Mystic Who Lit The Fires of Hatred", "Sittings of the House – Special or Unusual Sittings", "CIA Goes Hollywood: A Classic Case of Deception", "Reagan Takes Oath as 40th President; Promises an 'Era of National Renewal'—Minutes Later, 52 U.S. His decision was humanitarian, not political; nevertheless, as one American later noted, it was like throwing “a burning branch into a bucket of kerosene.” Anti-American sentiment in Iran exploded. We can put the constitution to the people's vote without difficulty, and carry out presidential and parliamentary elections.[57]. In a TV address on October 22, ...read more, On October 6, 1973, hoping to win back territory lost to Israel during the third Arab-Israeli war, in 1967, Egyptian and Syrian forces launched a coordinated attack against Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. [22][23][24], Months before the Iranian Revolution, on New Year's Eve 1977, President Carter further angered anti-Shah Iranians with a televised toast to Pahlavi, claiming that the Shah was "beloved" by his people. The National Christmas Tree was left dark except for the top star. The unit picked for the mission was a U.S. Navy mine-laying unit flying CH-53D Sea Stallions; these helicopters were considered the best suited for the mission because of their long range, large capacity, and compatibility with shipboard operations. [69] According to a 1997 Federation of American Scientists bulletin, by 1995, 77 volumes of Documents from the U.S. According to Foreign Minister Yazdi, when he went to Qom to tell Khomeini about it, Khomeini told him to "go and kick them out." This was paid by the US Government. Iran hostages return home to a warm welcome after 444 days in captivity. All were released by late 1982. One Iranian American later complained, "I had to hide my Iranian identity not to get beaten up, even at university. Asgharzadeh, the student leader, described the original plan as a nonviolent and symbolic action in which the "gentle and respectful treatment" of the hostages would dramatize to the world the offended sovereignty and dignity of Iran. [95], Other hostages described threats to boil their feet in oil (Alan B. Golacinski),[96] cut their eyes out (Rick Kupke),[97] or kidnap and kill a disabled son in America and "start sending pieces of him to your wife" (David Roeder).[98]. "[32] In addition to ending what they believed was American sabotage of the revolution, the hostage takers hoped to depose the provisional revolutionary government of Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan, which they believed was plotting to normalize relations with the United States and extinguish Islamic revolutionary order in Iran. By the 1970s, many Iranians were fed up with the Shah’s government. Specifically, he was accused of committing crimes against Iranian citizens with the help of his secret police. There, an inspection showed that a hydraulic fluid leak had damaged a pump and that the helicopter could not be flown safely, nor repaired in time to continue the mission. Rocks and bullets had broken so many of the embassy's front-facing windows that they had been replaced with bulletproof glass. However, in 1951 Iran’s newly elected prime minister, a European-educated nationalist named Muhammad Mossadegh, announced a plan to nationalize the country’s oil industry. Eight American servicemen were killed in the accident, and Operation Eagle Claw was aborted. The hostages were initially held at the embassy, but after the takers took the cue from the failed rescue mission, the detainees were scattered around Iran in order to make a single rescue attempt impossible. Internal situation in Iran; Attack on British Embassy; Hostage-taking at US Embassy; Freezing of Iranian Assets; US Mission to release hostages; Relations with US & UK following hostage taking at US Embassy. The journalist Stephen Kinzer argues that the dramatic change in American–Iranian relations, from allies to enemies, helped embolden the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, and that the United States' anger with Iran led it to aid the Iraqis after the war turned against them. Efty, Alex; 'If Shah Not Returned, Khomeini Sets Trial for Other Hostages'; Rick Kupke in Bowden 2006, p. 81, Charles Jones, Colonel Dave Roeder, Metrinko, Tom Ahern (in Bowden 2006, p. 295), Hall in Bowden 2006, p. 257, Limbert in Bowden 2006, p. 585, Bill Belk in Bowden 2006, pp. [45] The students had wanted to inform him, but according to the author Mark Bowden, Ayatollah Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha persuaded them not to. "[137], The hostage-taking was unsuccessful for Iran in some respects. Once inside, they seized 66 hostages, mostly diplomats and embassy employees. The United States and Iran broke off formal diplomatic relations over the hostage crisis. Photo by Associated Press/Adam Stoltman Forty years ago, after 444 days in captivity, the 52 Americans held hostage in Iran were released. ", "Iran's pro-democracy protesters to Obama: With us or against us? Supporters of the takeover claimed that in 1953, the American Embassy had acted as a "den of spies" from which the coup was organized. President Carter’s inability to resolve the problem made him look like a weak and ineffectual leader. 35 years ago, 52 Americans were released from Iran after spending 444 days as hostages after the takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran. During the weeks leading up to Christmas in 1979, high school students made cards that were delivered to the hostages. Mohi Sobhani – Iranian American engineer and member of the. [72] Before release, these hostages were required by their captors to hold a press conference in which Kathy Gross and William Quarles praised the revolution's aims,[73] but four further women and six African-Americans were released the following day. [157], The U.S. military later awarded the 20 servicemen among the hostages the Defense Meritorious Service Medal. They also drew on their experiences from the recent revolution, during which the U.S. Embassy grounds were briefly occupied. [118] On Friday Brzezinski held a newly scheduled meeting of the National Security Council where the president authorized Operation Eagle Claw, a military expedition into Tehran to rescue the hostages. Iran demanded his return in order to stand trial for crimes that he was accused of committing during his reign. "[103] The guards often withheld mail – telling one hostage, Charles W. Scott, "I don't see anything for you, Mr. Scott. [101] Over the months, the numbness spread to his right side, and the dizziness worsened until he "was literally flat on his back, unable to move without growing dizzy and throwing up. After Carter lost the presidential election in November, the project was abandoned.[126]. The remaining 52 hostages were held until January 1981, up to 444 days of captivity. [162], Some of the ex-hostages and their families received payments, but then Justice Department lawyers interpreted the law to allow 9/11 family members to get a judgment against Iran as well and to apply to the USVSST fund. Four hostages tried to escape,[99] and all were punished with stretches of solitary confinement when their attempts were discovered. [31] Ayatollah Khomeini, who had been exiled by the shah for 15 years, heightened the rhetoric against the "Great Satan", as he called the United States, talking of "evidence of American plotting. By March, the doors to their living space were kept "chained and padlocked."[75]. 6 in the desert without destroying it. Anti-Americanism became even more intense. [147] Mohammad Samadi, a spokesman for the group, signed up several hundred volunteers in a few days.[147]. "A Very Elegant Coup. The Tehran hostages received $50 for each day in captivity after their release. [127][128] There are theories and conspiracy theories regarding why Iran postponed the release until that moment. Meanwhile, the Iranian government spent billions of dollars on American-made weapons while the Iranian economy suffered. Jerry Plotkin – American Businessman released January 1981. His fellow hostages applied first aid and raised the alarm, and he was taken to a hospital after a long delay created by the guards. The only African-American hostage not released that month was Charles A. Jones, Jr… "[41] Mirdamadi told an interviewer, "We intended to detain the diplomats for a few days, maybe one week, but no more. In America, President Carter's political popularity and prospects for being re-elected in 1980 were further damaged after a television address on April 25 in which he explained the rescue operation and accepted responsibility for its failure.
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