Iranian Hostage Crisis

1. Iranian Hostage Crisis By: Josh Dunham and Anna Moody

2. Iranian Hostage Crisis Overview

3. Background • Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi was king of Iran • Became a big ally for the west • His rule provoked both religious leaders who feared losing their traditional authority and students and intellectuals seeking democratic reforms • Iran already had a bad relationship with the US because we were allies with the Soviets and Britain during WWII • They hated Shah’s father because he was the one that turned Iran over to the British and Soviets during WWII • During WWII the Soviets and Britain occupied Iran by force • There was a huge revolution that took place a couple years before the whole Iranian hostage crisis

4. The Causes • Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavis was overthrown after an Iranian Revolution by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini • Shah flees to the US and Carter gives Shah cancer treatments • Made the Iranians mad because they wanted Shah to come back so they could put him on trial • Then Ayatollah becomes the supreme leader

5. What happened • November 4, 1979, 66 US citizens were seized by 500 Muslim students inside the US embassy in Tehran. • All the woman and African American’s were set free and so the number decreases to 52 hostages. • Ayatollah made a statement in support of the action against the American “den of spies.” • Carter applied economic pressure by halting oil imports from Iran. • The US security council passes a resolution calling for Iran to release the hostages. • President Carter cuts diplomatic ties with Iran, announcing further sanctions and ordering all Iranian diplomats to leave the United States.

6. Canadian Caper • During the seizure of the US Embassy 6 Americans walked out and hid before the embassy was destroyed. • They hid for four days before returning to the Canadian Embassy in which the CIA is contacted and plans a secret mission known as the “Canadian Caper.”

7. Desert One • After the Iranian’s showed no signs of releasing the hostages Jimmy Carter launched a high-risk operation called “desert One.” • After one helicopter crashed into a c-130 transport plane due to a sandstorm, Jimmy Carter is forced to abort the mission. • Eight servicemen were killed and 3 more injured.

8. How it ended • The death of shah in Egypt and the invasion of Iran by Iraq made the Iranians more receptive to resolving the hostage crisis • Because of all these failed attempts Ronald Reagan wins the next election and successful negotiations begin • The day of Ronald Reagan’s inauguration the US released almost $8 billion in Iranian assets and the hostages were freed after 444 days in Iranian detention, the agreement gave Iran immunity from lawsuits arising from the incident

9. The Results • All hostages made it home • Reagan became president • Our relationship with Iran was never the same • In 2000, the hostages and their families tried to sue Iran but was unsuccessful because the US did not want to further anger the Iranians • It solidified the control of Iran by a radical Islamic theocracy that is a sworn enemy of the United States. They have been named a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. State department since 01/19/84 because of their support of Islamic terror groups around the world.

10. Why is this important? • To understand why are relationship with Iran is as it is today • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became president in 2005 because of the outcome of the Iranian Hostage Crisis

11. Sources • https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/short-history/iraniancrises • http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/15/world/meast/iran-hostage-crisis-fast-facts/ • http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/carter-hostage-crisis/ • http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Middleeastweb/factfile/Unique-facts-MiddleEast9.htm • http://humn410groupc-jan11.wikispaces.com/Outcomes