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The Iran Hostage Crisis and Fall of Jimmy Carter
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After the Shah of Iran fled to the United States for cancer treatment, the Islamic government requested his extradition. President Jimmy Carter refused. He knew that extradition for trial would result in the Shah’s execution. The Ayatollah and Iranian revolutionaries were incensed. As a result, they stormed the American embassy and kidnapped 66 individuals. The ensuing crisis lasted 444 days and cost Jimmy Carter his presidency. The crisis made the United States and President Carter look impotent and proved both an embarrassment for the U.S. and signaled the beginning of Islam’s war on the west.
On November 4, 1979, Islamic students stormed the American embassy in Tehran. They claimed solidarity with the Islamic Revolution and boasted America could do nothing to stop them. The students were angry at the Carter Administration for granting the Shah asylum and at the United States for the 1953 coup that placed the Shah on the throne. Additionally, they feared another American-led coup. At 6:30 in the morning, they stormed the compound. The Ayatollah Khomeini quickly threw his support to the students.
Within a couple of weeks, the students released 13 women and blacks. They expressed solidarity with the African-Americans as an “oppressed” minority and claimed Islam held women in high regard. They released another hostage in July, 1980 due to a serious illness. This left 52 people in the hands of the students. They would remain in custody until January 20, 1981.
Negotiations began in earnest. They dragged on into the new year. Americans placed bows on trees to remember the hostages. The American public rallied to President Carter. As the crisis dragged on, the public grew impatient. How could a little country such as Iran hold the United States hostage? Carter had to act.
President Carter approved Operation Eagle Claw to rescue the hostages. On April 24, 1980, as American choppers moved into the Iranian desert, a sandstorm kicked up. The rescuers lost three of the eight helicopters in the storm. Carter was forced to abort the mission. The wreckage of two of the copters laid in the desert. To make matters worse, another helicopter crashed into a transport plane. The explosion killed eight Americans. Between the desert disaster and double digit unemployment and inflation at home, the Carter Administration was finished. Ronald Reagan won the election in November.
In response to the American military action, the Iranians split the hostages up and moved them to new locations spread throughout the country. America developed another rescue plan, but the United States could not rescue all the hostages in one action. Iran forced Carter to negotiate and Khomeini remained determined to humiliate the American president and people. Negotiations dragged on until Inauguration Day. Iran finally agreed to release the hostages. However, they waited until President Reagan took the oath of office before releasing them. The 52 hostages remained in Iranian hands for 444 days.
The Iran Hostage Crisis changed the Middle East. First, since America and Iran went from friends to enemies, Saddam Hussein felt it time to invade Iran. An Islamic regime on his border threatened his rule and the region. America supported Iraq during the eight year Iran-Iraq War. Second, Iran launched a terror war on American, Israeli, and western interests. In 1983, the Iranians aided terrorists that killed 299 Americans in Beirut. Iran has been active in aiding Hezbollah kill Israelis. They also worked to destabilize Iraq and kill American soldiers during the Second Gulf War. Third, the crisis ended the Carter Presidency. Jimmy Carter experienced many problems. Inflation and unemployment both hit double digits, the energy crisis, the hostage crisis, and his own refusal to work with his own party doomed his presidency. The Iranians simply provided icing for the cake.
The Iranian Revolution and subsequent hostage crisis reverberate to this day. The crisis changed the nature of Middle East geopolitics and ushered in the Age of Terror. Since the revolution, the Iranians have worked steadily to destabilize the region in hopes of spreading their brand of Islam and damage America, western, and Israeli interests. This process began with the revolution and hostage crisis. It will continue until the Islamics are defeated or mellow out.
