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Home , Iran hostage crisis, January 1981, Ruhollah Khomeini

CONTEMPORARY (1968–Present) The Crisis

FOR 444 DAYS, between , 1979, and of the Islamic religion, particularly the fiery , , 1981, radical followers of the Islamic or religious leader, Khomeini, whom the had clergymen Ayatollah held 52 exiled in 1963. In 1979 Iran exploded into revolu- Americans hostage in Teheran, capital city of the tion, the Shah fled, and Khomeini returned. In Middle Eastern nation of Iran. The hostage crisis cre- November followers of Khomeini seized the U.S. ated a deep sense of frustration in the American pub- embassy in Teheran and took 66 Americans hostage lic and contributed to President ’s fail- (14 were later released, or escaped). President Carter ure to win a second term. Since the early 1950s the placed economic , pursued United States had supported the rule of Shah negotiations, and ordered a military rescue operation, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi of the Iranian royal family, which failed with the loss of eight American lives. both to keep Iranian oil flowing to the West and to Carter was voted out of office, and the were maintain Iran as an ally in the . The Shah was not freed until just after succeeded opposed by the powerful clergy of the Shiite branch him in .

Timeline

1979 The Shah and his family flee Iran February 13 Militants storm the U.S. embassy in Teheran and occupy it for two hours. October 22 President Carter allows the Shah, now suffering from cancer, into the United States for treatment, increasing anti- American feeling among Iranian revolutionaries. November 4 Three thousand Iranian militants again seize the U.S. embassy in Teheran, taking 66 American military and diplomatic personnel hostage. November–December The Teheran militants release all African- American and most women hostages, and six hostages escape to the Canadian embassy, leaving 52 Americans in captivity.

1980 February The Teheran militants announce their terms for the release of the remaining hostages: return of the Shah to Iran, dis- tribution of the Shah’s wealth to the Iranian people, a U.S. Iranian captors parade American hostage, 1979. pledge never to “interfere” with Iran, and an apology from the United States for “crimes against the Iranian people.” ht protected by the publisher. President Carter responds by ordering Iranian diplomats Fact Box: The United States and Iran to leave the country, declaring a complete economic embargo of Iran, and putting other economic sanctions into effect. •When Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadeq Under growing public pressure, Carter gives the go- seized the property of foreign-owned oil companies in ahead for a complicated military operation aimed at freeing the 1953, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) organized hostages. “” ends in disaster when two U.S. aircraft collide at a secret base inside Iran, killing eight service- a successful coup to replace him with the 30-year-old men. Shah. July 27 The Shah dies of cancer. •In 1964 the Shah’s government granted U.S. military per- September Ayatollah Khomeini states that the hostages will not sonnel in Iran immunity from Iranian law. The unpopular be freed until Iranian financial assets “frozen” in the United act increased anti-American feeling among many Iranians. States are returned, but he drops the demand for an American •In the 1960s the Shah used Iran’s oil wealth to fund the “apology.” so-called “”—the Shah’s term for his mod- October Hopes for an end to the crisis rise when Iran’s Prime ernization campaign. Few ordinary Iranians benefited from Minister, Mohammed Rajai, visits the . the campaign, and the Shiite clergy considered the cam- November Republican candidate Ronald Reagan defeats Carter in paign an attack on their religion and their traditional privi- the presidential election. leges. December The Iranian revolutionaries and the United States negotiate terms for the release of the hostages, using Algerian •The Iranian military and a much-feared secret police diplomats as go-betweens. The main issue remaining is how force, SAVAK, suppressed opposition to the Shah’s regime much of Iran’s assets the United States will return. with great cruelty. •Although more moderate governments have come to 1981 power in Iran since Ayatollah Khomeini’s death in 1989, The United States releases $8 billion in Iranian assets. relations between the United States and Iran have yet to January 20 The 52 freed hostages are flown out of Teheran just be fully normalized. hours after Jimmy Carter leaves office. © Media Projects Incorporated Published by Facts on File Inc. All electronic storage, reproduction, or transmittal is copyrig