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Heidi Novack

Mr. Smith

Terrorism in the 21st Century

Historic 20th Century Terrorist Attacks

November 1979: Militant Iranian Students Seize U.S. Citizens at U.S. Embassy in Tehran

Introduction

The Iranian government had been unsteady with the Shah even when President Carter toasted a New

Year's Eve celebration with him, calling him an island of stability in an unstable Middle East3. The

Shah fled to Egypt in January of 1979, because he was denied access to the U.S4. Ayatollah Khomeini

returned from his exile in February, and quickly began his rule with anti-American sentiments4. The

Shah was found to be suffering from cancer, but even then President Carter was hesitant to admit him

entry to the United States. He feared that harboring and treating the Shah in the U.S. might causeIranian aggression toward Americans in Iran. When the gravity of his cancer was realized, however,

Carter relented on humanitarian grounds3. 'He went around the room, and most of us said, "Let him

in."' recalls Vice President Walter Mondale. 'And he said, "And if [the Iranians] take our employees in

our embassy hostage, then what would be your advice?" And the room just fell dead. No one had an

answer to that. Turns out, we never did.' (People & Events). President Carter's question came to need

an answer on November 4, 1979 when between 65 and 90 hostages were detained within the U.S.

embassy.

The Terrorist Act & Terrorist Group

When the 66 hostages were taken captive at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, no one knew who the captors

represented or what they hoped to achieve1. They turned out to be a militant group of about 300 Iranian

students responsible for the hostage situation, and claimed to be acting without their government's

support. The new main regime leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, saw the opportunity to consolidate his

power in the circumstances of the hostage crisis, and issued a statement of his support of this action

against the American 'den of spies'1. Student captors vowed that they would not release their hostages

until the U.S. returned the Shah for trial, with billions of dollars that they claimed were stolen from the

Iranian people. Their initial statement set the price at $24 billion1.

The U.S. citizens were held hostage for 444 days; from November 4, 1979 until January 1981. During

that time, the embassy staff was split into small groups which were not allowed communication with

the other groups. Cut off from much of the national affairs, the captives were not informed of what the

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United States was doing to try to help them, or anything else that went on outside of the embassy

building, for that matter. 2

Treatment of the hostages was not cruel, but the students were novice jailers and had some excessive

security precautions and rules which were arbitrarily applied. Food was often improvised, simple, and

inadequate. They were blindfolded when they were escorted to or from the showers, or exercise. The

captors were ill-equipped, and essential supplies often ran out. One crucial problem was that many of

the hostages were senior embassy staff and had serious health worries; the medical attention that they

were given was extremely inadequate. Captives could write mail, but it would be scrutinized before it

was sealed and many letters failed to be sent or received. 2

The Outcome and/or Response to the Act

On November 11, the U.S. government embargoed Iranian oil and froze Iranian assets, which prompted

additional outbursts from Iranians. Khomeini announced on the 17 th that African American, female, and

non-U.S.-citizen hostages would be released. His reasoning was that minorities and women had

suffered enough under 'the oppression of American society'. One African American, Charles Jones,

and two women, Elizabeth A. Swift and Kathryn Koob, stayed as hostages (People & Events).

Six American diplomats escaped capture and were harbored for two months in the Swedish and

Canadian embassies. They fled the country with Canadian passports (The Hostages).

A complete economic embargo was called for in April of 1980 as well as severed diplomatic relations,

as negotiations so far had brought forth no results. On April 11 Carter approved a top-secret, extremely

risky mission which had been in the works for months. Operation Desert One, or Eagle Claw,

began on the 24th, but had to be aborted due to three malfunctioning helicopters. Though there had been

little chance for success, the President was devastated. The withdrawal ended in disaster; one helicopter

collided with a transport plane, killing eight servicemen and injuring three1,3.

In July the Shahwho the students wanted brought to Iran for trialpassed away; yet this did not

persuade the ayatollah and student captors to free their hostages3.

The Carter administration's popularity suffered greatly from his seeming inaction in the hostage

situation. However, the reason that negotiations were so prolonged was because Carter's priority was to

preserve the lives of those held hostage. Rosalyn Carter was quoted on the PBS site saying;

"I would go out and campaign and come back and say, 'Why don't you do something?' And he

said, 'What would you want me to do?' I said, 'Mine the harbors.' He said, 'Okay, suppose I

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mine the harbors, and they decide to take one hostage out every day and kill him. What am I

going to do then?'"3

The crisis may very well have cost Carter his second term of presidency. Not only was he less popular

by the stalemate situation, but the President was too distracted by the situation in Iran, intent to resolve

the situation, to campaign as vigorously as he should have. President Jimmy Carter was negotiating the

hostage crisis in Iran up until Reagan's inauguration. His efforts to solve the crisis before the end of his

term was even documented by an ABC television crew in the Oval Office3. Despite this, the Iranians

released their American hostages minutes after Reagan was inaugurated. On the inauguration day, Iran

agreed to release the hostages in exchange for $8 billion in frozen assets and the U.S. promise to lift

trade sanctions1. The former president greeted the freed hostages in West Germany.

Works Cited

1.Cosgrove, Alexandra. Iran Hostage Anniversary. CBS. c. Viacom Internet Services Inc.Washington, D.C. 18 Jan 2001.

2. Iran Hostage's Diary / Robert C. Ode. Index. Jimmy Carter Library & Museum. 09 Feb 2006. 1

Feb 2011. .

3. People & Events: The Iranian Hostage Crisis, November 1979 - January 1981. The American

Experience: Jimmy Carter. PBS.

4. The Hostage Crisis in Iran. Jimmy Carter Library & Museum. 09 Feb 2006. 1 Feb 2011.

.

5. The Hostages and The Casualties. Jimmy Carter Library & Museum. 05 Jul 2005. 1 Feb 2011.