End of the Year The U.S. Hostage Crisis in Iran 444 Days in Captivity

End of the Year

The U.S. Hostage Crisis in Iran

444 Days in Captivity

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.

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.

“Marg Bar Amrika!”

• Sunday, November 4, 1979 the US Embassy in Teheran is stormed

• Sixty-six hostages taken

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

• Hostages became a national obsession

• 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

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

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

Where Are They Now?

• The Shah’s son is attended 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

Two Views: Liberalism and Conservatism

• Liberalism equals Democrats

• Valued social programs

• Bigger Government/Government should take care of the people

• Conservatism equals Republican

• Lower taxes/keep money in the hands of people

• Smaller Government

The Conservative Movement Gained Strength

• Liberalism lost appeal due to Vietnam War and Counter-Culture

• Conservatives believed Government spent too much money on programs like welfare which promoted the number of children born out of wedlock and supported people who chose not to work

Reaganomics Guides the Economy

• Supply Side Economics– Reduce taxes– People have more to spend– Factories must make more, putting more

people back to work– Government can collect more taxes

Reagan Challenges Communism

• Most military peace time spending ever

• Simply outspent the Soviets

• Strategic Defense Initiative/Star Wars

• Supported Anti-communist movement around globe

• New Leader in the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev/Stain Head

Continued…

• MG promised two things:

• Glasnost equals New Openness in Soviet Society

• Perestroika equals Restructuring of Soviet Society– Moving away from a socialist controlled

economy– Created an opening for a shift in relations

between the US and the Soviet Union

Cold War Ends• Berlin Wall comes down-1989• East & West Germany reunite• No more Communism in Eastern Europe/no

more Warsaw Pact• Soviet Union falls apart & Cold War is over

– December 25, 1991– Breaks into 15 independent Republics– Boris Yeltsin leader of the largest new republic,

Russian Federation

• Who’s our enemy?

George H.W. Bush

• Succeeds Ronald Reagan as the next President

New Issues Emerge

• The Persian Gulf War– Saddam Hussein is the ruthless dictator of Iraq

• Led from 1979 to 2003

– Invades Kuwait in 1990• Economic Reasons

– President Bush made it clear he wouldn’t tolerate Iraq’s aggression and built an international coalition & demanded Iraqi troops withdraw

Operation Desert Storm-January 1991

Bill Clinton

• Bush is seen as old and out of touch

Osama Bin Laden

• Leader of Al-Qaeda, terrorist organization

• Killed May 2, 2011 in Pakistan