Iran hostage crisis

The Iran hostage crisis was a 444-day period during which the new government of Iran after the Iranian Revolution held hostage 66 diplomats and citizens of the United States. It is believed by many to have caused President Jimmy Carter of the United States to lose his re-election attempt, and punctuated the first fundamentalist Islamic revolution of modern times. It began on November 4, 1979 and lasted until January 20, 1981.

Background

For several decades the United States had been the primary backer of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah. In 1953, emerging democracy led to the election of reformist Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh; under Operation Ajax, the CIA helped the Shah and conservative elements in Iran remove Mossadegh in what was widely seen as a coup d'état. Eight U.S. presidents provided the shah with military and economic aid in exchange for a continuous oil supply and a strategic presence in the Middle East. Those opposed to the Shah, because he did not grant them freedoms and reforms he promised in the early 1960s, greatly resented this behaviour by the Americans. The Shah and his cronies enriched themselves, living an opulent Western lifestyle, which particularly rankled religious conservatives. The social and religious opposition combined to topple the Shah's regime in the Iranian revolution, and the Shah fled the country in January 1979.

Related Topics:
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi - Shah - 1953 - Democracy - Reformist - Mohammed Mossadegh - Operation Ajax - CIA - Coup d'état - Middle East - Western - Iranian revolution - January - 1979

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The U.S. attempted to mitigate the damage by finding a new relationship with the de facto Iranian government, but in October of 1979, the Shah, ailing from lymphoma, was admitted to the U.S. for medical treatment. This enraged the revolutionary movement.

Related Topics:
De facto - October - Lymphoma

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