The Iran Hostage Crisis
The Iran Hostage Crisis was one of diplomatic measures between Iran and the United States. There were a total of 52 U.S. Diplomats who were held hostage for a total of 444 days from November 4, 1979 until January 20, 1981.
The hostage crisis was the result of a militant group who overtook the American Embassy in Iran in support of the revolution in that country. The hostage crisis was a daily news headline event in the United States.
The crisis is thought to be the primary reason for the defeat of Jimmy Carter for the U.S. Presidency in November 1980.
At approximately 6:30 a.m. on November 4, 1979, the leaders of the crisis situation gathered between 300 and 500 students who were selected for the mission. These students became known as the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam’s Line.
The crowd entered the embassy gates and overtook the soldiers and staff, parading them blindfolded in front of several photographers. There were six American Diplomats who avoided being captured. These six found refuge at nearby Canadian and Swedish Embassies in Tehran for three months, and then fled the country using Canadian passports on January 28, 1980.
The hostage takers declared their solidarity with oppressed minorities and the special place of women in Islam. They released 13 women and African/Americans during the middle of November 1979. Another hostage was released in July 1980 when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
The remaining hostages totaled 52, and these were held captive until the end of the crisis situation in January 1981.
The hostages themselves were declared to be guests of the Ayatollah; however they were not always treated kindly. They were frequently paraded blindfolded in front of local crowds and television cameras. For months they were forbidden to speak to one another and often found themselves in solitary confinement for long periods of time.
President Jimmy Carter, after an initial plea for the release of the hostages which went unanswered, began putting economic and diplomatic pressure on Iran. The oil imports from Iran were stopped on November 12, 1979 and approximately $8 billion of Iranian assets in the United States were frozen on November 14, 1979.
Many Iranians were expelled from the United States.
It is now believed that the death of the Shah of Iran on July 27, 1980 and the invasion of Iran by Iraq in September of that same year led the hostage takers to lean toward resolving the hostage crisis.
Although Jimmy Carter lost the 1980 Presidential election to Ronald Reagan, he did in his final days in office, negotiate the release of the hostages.
On January 20, 1981, just minutes after Ronald Reagan was sworn in as President of the United States, the hostages were formally released into United States custody, after a grueling 444 days in captivity.