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Perspective of the iran hostage crisis
Perspective of the iran hostage crisis
Perspective of the iran hostage crisis
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Iranian Hostage Crisis
"It was like throwing a burning branch into a bucket of Kerosene-Anti American sentiment in Iran exploded", as one America Leader said when the Shah came to the United States. The tension between the United States and Iran initiated in the premature stage of the Shah's rule. The Iranian Hostage Crisis was the fuse that ignited the apprehension between America and Iran. The Iranian Hostage Crisis was significant because it caused the American government irrevocably weakened the United States relationship with Iran and how United States deals with other countries affairs.
1941, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi was officially inaugurated the king of Iran. The shah maintained a pro-Western foreign policy and to develop a strong economic stability in Iran. Many Iranian citizens were displeased with the shah's changes to their traditions. For example, the Shah changed the Islamic calendar with the "Imperial" calendar and he put more limits on the king's power by putting Iran under the subjugation of the United State (Addis). The Iranian citizen's hatred toward the shah grew as the years passed, until the first uprising in 1953. This rebellion was led
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Right away, the Americans inside the embassy compound managed to sound an alarm and put the embassy into lockdown mode. Ten men were assigned the task of disposing of the sensitive documents that the embassy had in storage (Mendez 128). Meanwhile, the students showed up at the second floor's entrance one of the security guards named Algolacinski went out to try to appease them. They instantaneously took his hostages and threaten to kill him if they did not get in. The students barge in and immediately started to wreak havoc throughout the embassy and taking people into hostage. The causes of the attack six ambassadors were able to escape (Robert
This completely changed the perception of the United States within Iran. Many Iranians believed that “American influence and power made a mockery of their national autonomy and desecrated their religious beliefs” (Farber, 37). The real struggle came once the Shah sought asylum in the U.S. Iran believed this to be a betrayal and demanded the Shah be released to the revolutionaries. Due to the fact that the United States did not refuse the Shah, the revolutionaries took the embassy in Tehran and all of the people that worked there hostage. One of the hostages wrote back to his parents during the crisis “‘We will not be set free until shah is released and the longer we stay here like this the better is a chance for something terrible to happen’” (Farber, 156). The siege was led by Iranian students who supported the revolution and the Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader that the revolution had selected to take the place of the
Kinzer tells us that the Iranians celebrated their nationalism in taking control of their oil, but their success was a shock to the British multinational companies in Iran. They did not like the idea of Iran nationalization, so they plan a coup to overthrow the Prime Minister Mossadegh. But this plan failed and the British were disarmed and sent back to their country closing down their embassy in Iran. The British tried to present their case to the United State in a way that the United State would intervene. So they presented a case that Mossaghe is not only nationalizing the Iranians oil, he is also leading Iran into communism. This case stirred the American action and they feared if they assassinate Mossaghe, his seat will be open and communist ...
In All The Shah’s Men there seems to be a very strong hatred for all foreign powers, including the United States, taken by the citizens of Iran. I believe that this ultimately occurred because of the impatience of certain government officials in Washington D.C., and also in Great Britain. If only there could have been better communication between countries, I feel that there would have been a solution reached. The stubbornness of the British for the most part, led to many lives being lost, and a feeling of perpetual disgust being shown towards the United States for their involvement. Although the British were our allies and we did have an extreme fear of communism taking over the free world, this coup was disorganized, forced along too quickly, and put forth without any guidance or strong evidence, which in the end proved to completely defy what the United States was trying to impose on the world, and what Mossadegh was trying to give his people; freedom and democracy.
For decades, U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East had depended on a friendly government in Iran. The newly appointed leader, the shah of Iran, began Westernizing the country and taking away power from the Ayatollah, powerful religious leaders. The United States poured millions of dollars into Iran’s economy and the shah’s armed forces, overlooking the rampant corruption in government and well-organized opposition. By early 1979, the Ayatollah had murdered the Shah and taken back power of the government. A group of students who took the American embassy hostage on November 4th, 1979, turned the embassy over to the religious leaders. Carter knew he must take action in order to regain the American embassy and the hostages, but with all of the military cutbacks, the rescue attempt was a complete failure and embarrassment. It took the United States 444 days to rescue the hostages. This was the final straw for many Americans, and enough to push them to the “right” side of the political spectrum, Republican.
America and Iran had tricked the Soviets which left them very angry, and this inevitably led to the Cold War. But less than a decade later, America had done something which caused Iran to change their opinion of them. In 1951, Iran had recently elected a prime minister by the name, Mohammed Mosaddeq, which he nationalized the countryś petroleum industry, long the domain of the British-dominated AIOC. This move, however, pitted the two governments against each other in a bitter political fight. The Truman administration had tried to work between both sides, but Dwight Eisenhower had quickly concluded that Mosaddeq represented the problem rather than the solution to the crisis. They decided that they wanted him out and later he was kicked out and Mohammad Reza Shah took his place for the next twenty-five years. Shah not only gained access to sophisticated American weaponry, but also obtained tacit White House permission to forgo any serious effort at reform. Over the years, the internal resentment against the Shahś political and economic policies was building to a peak, but the depth of the problem escaped the notice of American
...w the United States’ close ally Shah. Countless modernizers were persecuted, arrested and executed. In November 52 United States diplomats were held hostage by student revolutionaries who’d seized the American embassy in Tehran. America took immediate action and seized all Iranian assets. The United States attempted to negotiate. The negotiation, to the dismay of the American people dragged on for 444 days. There was a large push for President Carter to use military forces as means of negotiations; he however opted for peaceful means, which proved to be unsuccessful. Finally in April 1980 the President sanctioned a rescue mission. The attempt failed due to technical difficulties, eight men died; as a result the nation became extremely unnerved. Carter's dialogue with Iran continued throughout 1980. This was yet another failure on Carter’s part to rectify an issue.
A few years later in 1979 the Islamic revolution began, causing the Shah to flee (introduction pages one and two).
Before the hostages were taken, there was already a lot of tension between the U.S. and Iran(HIstory). Their prime minister at the time was Muhammad Mossadegh(History). Mohammad wanted to nationalize their oil industry, which the UK and the US were in charge of running(History). This would have severely damaged their economy at the time because of how large the demand of oil was. To try and defend themselves the US and the UK set up a plan to overthrow the prime minister, which resulted in success(History). They replaced him with a new leader who, for sake of time, was called Shah(History). He turned out to be a
In the 1970’s Iran, under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was a very centralized military state that maintained a close relationship with the USA. The Shah was notoriously out of touch with working class Iranians as he implemented many controversial economic policies against small business owners that he suspected involved profiteering. Also unrestricted economic expansions in Iran lead to huge government expenditure that became a serious problem when oil prices dropped in the mid 1970’s. This caused many huge government construction projects to halt and the economy to stall after many years of massive profit. Following this was high rates of inflation that affected Iranians buying power and living standards. (Afary, 2012) Under the Shah, political participation was not widely available for all Iranians and it was common for political opposition to be met with harassment, illegal detention, and even torture. These measures were implemented by the Iranian secret police knows as ‘SAVAK’. This totalitarian regime combined with the increasing modernisation of the country paved the way for revolution.
The Iran hostage crisis was when 66 American hostages were taken from the U.S. embassy in Iran because of the Iranian people being angry at the U.S. for their relationship between the leaders. In the 1950s, the U.S. made Shah the Iranians new leader and took out their old one. The people did not like him, and how the U.S. was using him, and how their relationships were too close with the U.S. president. After the shah moved out of Iran because he was scared for his life, since it was no longer safe for him to be in Iran, since he was threatened too many times by his own people. The shah then fled from place to place looking for somewhere to hide safely, and asked if he could stay in the U.S., and Jimmy carter said yes, which made the Iranians
The Iran Hostage Crisis was a very important event that impacted America in many ways and destroyed our relationship with Iran. The consequences of this event are still felt today and continue to our foreign policies toward Iran. Throughout the 20th century, the United States tried to control Iran to ensure the exportation of oil to America. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi came to power in 1941 and became allies with the United States. However, in the 1950s, Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh began to gain political power.
Iran was included in the territory of what was then the ancient Persian Empire. For centuries Iran (land of the Aryans) was also referred to as Persia, which was the official name until 1935. Fourteen years had passed before the Iranian government allowed the use of both names. Few groups of people today have significant history like the Iranians, descending from the ancient Persians, who possess one of the world’s richest and oldest cultures. Historically, a variety of other cultures and groups had once occupied the ancient Iranian plateau as early as 4,000 B.C.E, with little importance. Beginning by the third millennium, Persia was ruled by some of the greatest kings of all time, from Cyrus the Great to Darius the III, who turned the Persian Empire into one of the world’s greatest civilizations.
The Iran Hostage Crisis was a dangerous time period for Americans and held lots of events in it. It took place on November 4, 1997. The location was in Tehran, Iran. The main place things happened was in the embassy. One of the main issues was with the president. That didn’t stop the Americans from being angry and face Moorhead Kennedy. President Carter knew the country was in serious danger. This event in history happen 39 years ago. It was between Iran and the united states. The group mostly consisted of young students. On November 4, 1979 President Cater got a call that 50 to 60 americans had been captured and taken to Iran. There was a total of 500 Iranian students at one point on the street and shouting as if they were celabrating something special. It was not goood shouting, it contained nasty/foul words. Many Iranian students wanted America to fail and many wanted Carter gone. The main cause to this was that President Carter let Iran’s Shah come to the united States for medical help. Americans beleived that letting Shah in was the worst decision because of what he was called. This event led up to the Iran
It was a cool fall day in November 1979 in a country going through a religious and political upheaval when a group of Iranian students attacked and seized the American Embassy in Tehran. This seizure was an outright attack on American soil; it was an attack that held the world's most powerful country hostage and paralyzed a Presidency. The attack on this sovereign US embassy set the stage for the events to follow for the next 23 years.
Although the Iranian Revolution was caused by combination of political and religious motivations and ideas, the desires of the people supporting the movement were more dominantly religious ideas that were wished to be imposed in society and in a new government. The Shah, or king, of Iran at the time was Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, who had developed relations with nations in “western” world, specifically with the United States. The United States supported the White Revolution, which was a series of social reformations the Shah made to remove Islamic v...