The Iran-USA Crise a 52’ Documentary Directed by Ben Salama & Naoufel Brahimi El Mili Produced by Kuiv Productions

444 days The Iran-USA crise A 52’ documentary Directed by Ben Salama & Naoufel Brahimi El Mili Produced by Kuiv Productions PROVISIONAL DELIVERY : OCTOBER 2020 Summary A 444-day ordeal for American diplomats taken This film tells the story of events which unfolded hostage in Tehran, 444 days of humiliation for the from 4 November 1979 to 20 January 1981, a defining world’s greatest power, the United States, and 444 episode of the last half of the 20th century, and one days of fanaticism for the Iranian Islamists who were which marked the beginning of the conflict between imposing their will on their country and the world. the United States and its former ally, Iran. Writers’ note The American hostage crisis in Iran was an episode seize exclusive political power. of heightened tension in international relations The second event was the signing of the Camp David between the United States and Iran, which began on Accords on 26 March between Egypt and Israel 4 November 1979 and ended on 20 January 1981. For – the date on which Egyptian Islamists turned to 444 days, or nearly 15 months, 56 American diplomats radical struggle against Anwar Al-Sadat. The latter and civilians were held hostage by Iranian students in was assassinated in October 1981 in a spectacular the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. operation, whose mastermind was none other than This hostage-taking was part of a long series of events Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the current leader of Al Qaeda. that reshaped first the Arab-Muslim world, and then On 20 November 1979, hostages were seized in later the rest of the world. In this context, 1979 was the Great Mosque of Mecca, known in Arabic as Al- the annus horribilis for the Middle East. Four events in Masjid al-Harâm, literally the Sacred Mosque. A unit that year upset major regional and global balances. of 200 men, most of them Saudi nationals, stormed These upheavals still leave their mark today on the the holiest place in Islam. This unprecedented geopolitical equilibrium in this part of the world. hostage-taking lasted several days and required The first thunderbolt came on 1 February of that the intervention of French special forces – a detail fateful year: The triumphant return of Ayatollah which was naturally enough denied by the Saud Khomeini to Iran and the creation of an Islamic family. Christians in the heart of Mecca would be a Republic in the world’s most oil-rich land. Khomeini far more serious sacrilege than the hostage-taking arrived in Tehran backed by a motley coalition of itself. In reality, the French soldiers went through a communists, progressives, liberals, merchants, and quick conversion to Islam in order to be able to enter clerics. It was the attack on the American compound the sacred mosque. It was this precedent that led to followed by the taking of diplomat hostages that the rapid acceptance of the presence of hundreds of would, over time, radicalize the situation in Iran and thousands of American and European soldiers in the provide the opportunity for Shiite fundamentalists to holy land of Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War. 2 444 days: the Iran-USA crisis The fourth event was the invasion of Afghanistan by would declare war on the whole world on September Soviet troops on 24 December. The wave of Islamic 11. solidarity unleashed by Moscow’s aggression against Forty years later, America has still not turned the Kabul would make that country the primary breeding page on the humiliation of its diplomat hostages. ground for international jihadism fueled with Saudi This 15-month crisis, which was not resolved until money, Wahhabi rhetoric, and American weapons. January 1981, has subsequently developed into a Tens of thousands of Muslims from different countries latent conflict between the United States and Iran, were joining Osama Bin Laden and his allies. Al which is part of the current chaos in the Middle East. Qaeda was taking shape to structure these jihadists who had come to fight the Soviet invader. Later, they Ben Salama and Naoufel Brahimi El Mili Director’s note The story of the American hostages in Tehran is a The story will be told mainly through the plentiful genuine thriller, with many twists and turns, shadowy archives of the time, since this Iranian-American crisis characters and official emissaries. was very widely covered by the many US networks, of The film will revolve around two main characters: The course, but also by Iranian television, the Western victor, Ayatollah Khomeini; and the loser, President media, and that of mediating countries (Algeria, Jimmy Carter. One had just overthrown the Shah of Switzerland, Germany). It is one of the events of the Iran and was preparing to eliminate all those factions 20th century with the most media coverage. that had helped him rise to power and establish his The shadowy actions and secret meetings carried out personal supremacy in the name of Islam. The other by certain emissaries will be the subject of animated was the leader of the world’s superpower, the United scenes, combined with photos of the characters and States, a man who feared that this hostage situation locations in question, using simple 2D animation could ruin his chances of re-election. in black-and-white, created in association with This Khomeini/Carter face-off was enriched by an illustrator used to sketching realistic scenes. secondary characters in each camp, as well as I’m thinking of Jacques Ferrandez, with whom I’ve intermediaries who sought to use their influence to worked in the past. find a favorable conclusion to this crisis. The interviewees in the film will all be witnesses to the The tragedy of the hostage-taking came at a crucial events that took place throughout this drama. They time for both countries. Both Iran and the United will tell us about their role, and their feelings at the States were entering an election period. In Iran, time, allowing the viewer to relive these events. These these were the first elections after the fall of the interviews will be shot using back-lighting to create Shah, and clerics were maneuvering to consolidate the thriller atmosphere of those 444 days, which still power through the ballot box. In the United States, haunt the memory of Iranians and Americans. the campaign for the presidential election unfolded Ben Salama during the 444-day ordeal for the hostages. 3 444 days: the Iran-USA crisis Synopsis The United States and Iran have been in conflict for supporting students stormed the US embassy in the past 40 years, a conflict that began in 1979. This Tehran, sequestering all the American diplomats and was a dark year for the American administration. military personnel within. It began with the downfall of their staunch ally, the This was the start of a hostage-taking that lasted 444 Shah of Iran, in February. That marked the end of a days, until their release in January 1981, a few hours ruler who had always obeyed the directives of his before a change of president in Washington. American protectors. In his place, a cleric, Ayatollah Khomeini, arrived at the head of this great Middle Since then, Iran has become an obsession for the Eastern land after several months of huge popular Americans, who have never forgotten the images demonstrations. coming from Tehran, broadcast daily by their television channels, and the powerlessness of their A few months later, on 4 November 1979, Khomeini- great country to free their compatriots. The assault November 1979 in Tehran, a city rocked by almost daily noisily in front of the American embassy. They all had demonstrations. The departure of the Shah did not Khomeini’s portrait on their T-shirts. They demanded put an end to the agitation of all kinds to definitively the extradition of the Shah, who had taken refuge in establish the power of the Islamist fundamentalists. the United States, shouting «Death to America». The In that year, a broad coalition ranging from the left to morning ended with a sit-in, which could have lasted the Islamists ruled the country. several days. But things heated up after the midday On the morning of 4 November, around 10:00am, prayer. Led by a radical cleric, Ezzatollah Zarghmani, more than 400 excited students demonstrated they climbed the high gates of the chancellery, armed with sticks, iron bars and other weapons. 4 444 days: the Iran-USA crisis Behind the thick windowpanes, American diplomats watch this spectacle unfold. The mission chief ordered the marines inside the compound to get to work around the shredders. Thousands of compromising documents must be destroyed. At the end of the embassy’s lawn, the marines tried to stop the students leading their assault to the cries of: «La Ilah Illallah!» (God is One). The 10 hectares of this vast property were difficult to defend. The face-off between the marines and the attackers lasted more than two hours, the tension reaching its peak in front of the imposing building. Inside, the shredders could not keep up; time was without a single shot being fired. The attackers running out. Passports, telegrams, and secret claimed to belong to «Muslim Students Supporting documents were burned in garbage cans. On the lawn, Imam Khomeini», a hitherto unknown organization. a student spotted thick black smoke coming out of a But there was no doubt that it had the support of the window and yelled” «They’re burning documents!” top leaders of the Shiite clergy. «Let’s occupy this nest of spies right now!» shouted The assault was carried out amidst chaos, with six another.

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