Iran Hostage Crisis
Jimmy Carter was
the 39th American President who served in office from January 20, 1977 to January 20, 1981. One of the important events during his presidency was the Iran Hostage Crisis.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts for kids
The following fact
sheet contains interesting facts and information on the Iran Hostage Crisis.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts for kids
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts - 1: Just months after
the success of the
Camp
David Accords, President Jimmy Carter was faced with
a serious crisis in the Middle East, the
Iran Hostage Crisis.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts -
2: Iran was extremely
important to the United States as a major supplier of
oil and a buffer against Soviet and Communist expansion
in the Middle East (refer to the
Suez Crisis for additional information).
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts - 3: Iran was ruled by Shah
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the United States had supported the Shah
for more than twenty-five years, gaining valuable influence over
Iran's oil.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts - 4: The Shah of Iran adopted
policies to bring further Western influence and reforms to
the country, which resulted in the Shah's mounting unpopularity and
in strong dissatisfaction to the growing numbers of fundamentalist
Islamic groups in Iran.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts - 5: The Shah was a dictator and
any opposition to his policies were suppressed by the threat of
exile, torture or death at the hands of the Shah's secret police,
the Savak.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts - 6: The Islamic clergy
fiercely opposed the Shah’s reforms, believing
westernization to be hostile to Islam. Ruhollah
Khomeini (1900-1989) was a respected religious scholar
and an outspoken opponent to the pro-Western regime of
the Shah of Iran. He was to become known in the West as
the Ayatollah Khomeini, the term 'ayatollah' means a
leading Shia scholar.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts - 7: In 1962, Khomeini
was arrested by the Shah's secret police for his
outspoken opposition to the pro-Western regime of the
Shah. The arrest of Khomeini elevated him to the status
of national hero to the repressed people of the country.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts - 8: In 1964, Khomeini
was exiled from the country, living in Turkey, Iraq and
then France. During his period of exile (1964-1979)
Khomeini urged his supporters to overthrow the Shah.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts -
9: By the late 1970s,
the repressive regime of the Shah, his pro-Western
policies, unequal distribution of oil wealth and
corruption in the government resulted in widespread
strikes, riots and mass demonstrations across the
country.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts - 10: On 2 December
1978, Muhurram, the celebration of the month of
martyrdom, began. Thousands of Iranian demonstrators
seized government buildings, attacked and shut down
businesses and assassinated government officials. The
life of the Shah was under threat as thousands began
calling for the death.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts -
11: On January 16,
1979 Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was forced to flee Iran.
He first visited Egypt and Morocco, Panama and the
United States.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts - 12: On February 1, 1979,
Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile, fiercely denouncing American
influence and was appointed Iran's political and religious leader
for life.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts - 13: Ayatollah Khomeini
established an Islamic Republic and created the Islamic State,
introducing Islamic law across the country. Violent retributions
were exacted on supporters of the Shah including the executions of
over 600 government officials.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts - 14: On 22 October 1979 President
Jimmy Carter made the decision to allow the exiled Shah into the
United States for medical treatment.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts - 15: Crowds of enraged students
gathered in the streets, shouting, "Death to America" believing the
United States was trying to secretly restore the Shah to power.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts - 16: Two weeks later on November 4,
1979, revolutionary militants stormed the United States Embassy in
Teheran and took 53 hostages. They demanded the Shah in return for
the American hostages.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts - 17: The Iran Hostage
Crisis began as a crowd of over 3000 furious protestors
demonstrated at the US Embassy in Teheran. The mob
scaled the 10 foot high wall and stormed the building.
The guards at the embassy compound launched tear gas,
but they were unable to control the mob.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts - 18: 53 Americans were
taken as hostages. Six Americans had managed to escape
to other embassies and other non-US citizens were
released. About 200 Islamic militant, supporters of the
Islamic Revolution and
Ayatollah Khomeini occupied
the embassy calling themselves
the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts - 19: The 53 American
hostages were bound, blindfolded and shoved into
windowless rooms. The Muslim militants threatened to
kill the hostages or try them as spies.
Iran Hostage Crisis Facts - 20:
Americans and the
rest of the world watched in horror as the events of the
hostage crisis was played out on television. The
blindfolded hostages were paraded for the cameras to
humiliate the United States.
Iran Hostage Crisis Facts - 21:
The media coverage
was a demoralizing and shocking sight for the US public
who began tying yellow ribbons around tree trunks
throughout the country in commemoration and support of
the hostages.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Fact s -
22:Freeing the
hostages became a priority for the administration of
Jimmy Carter and the President pledged to preserve the
lives of the hostages and conduct intense diplomacy to
secure their release.
Continued...
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts for kids
Facts
about the Iran Hostage Crisis for kids
The following fact
sheet continues with facts about the Iran Hostage Crisis.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts for kids
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts -
23: President Carter
responded by applying economic sanctions by freezing
billions of dollars in Iranian assets and by instituting
an embargo on Iranian oil. Extradition was refused.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts -
24: Despite frantic
negotiations the Iranians continued with their refusal
to release the hostages until the Shah was extradited to
Iran.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts -
25: Due to the failure
to obtain the release of the hostages through diplomatic
negotiations, a daring rescue plan was taking shape. The
rescue plan involved landing eight American military
helicopters in the embassy compound, rescue the
hostages, and escape to six planes waiting on an
airstrip in the Iranian desert.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts -
26: The an
ill-conceived rescue mission, Operation Eagle Claw, was
launched April 24, 1980 but turned into a disaster.
Three of the eight US helicopters malfunctioned and the
pilot of a fourth helicopter, blinded by a dust storm,
crashed into a refueling aircraft. Operation Eagle Claw
was aborted.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts -
27: The unsuccessful
rescue operation cost the lives of eight U.S.
servicemen, some of their charred bodies were taken
through the streets of Tehran during massive protests.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts -
28: The White House
announced the failed rescue mission at 1:00 a.m. on the
following day. The hostages were subsequently scattered
across secret locations in different cities to make a
second rescue attempt impossible.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts -
29: On July 11, 1980, vice consul Richard
Queen (August 7, 1951 – August 14, 2002), was released
after 250 days in captivity after falling ill with
multiple sclerosis.
Iran Hostage Crisis Facts - 30:
On 27 July 1980,
the Shah Pahlavi died in Egypt, where he was granted
asylum by President Anwar el-Sadat, at the age of 60.
The death of the Shah eased some of the tensions and
enabled further negotiations to take place.
Iran Hostage Crisis Facts - 31:
News coverage of
the Iran Hostage Crisis were screened on TV every night
reminding the American public how many days the hostages
had been held.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts -
32: The lengthy
negotiations for the release of the captives resulted in
the United States releasing over $8 billion of Iran's
frozen assets. America also agreed to refrain from
interfering politically or militarily in Iran's internal
affairs. The hostage takers were given immunity.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts -
33: The United States
and Iran signed the agreement to end the Iran Hostage
Crisis on January 19, 1981. However, in a gesture to
cause a final embarrassment to President Carter the
militants did not release the hostages until January 20,
1981, the day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as President
of the United States.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts -
34: Minutes after
President Carter left office, a plane carrying the
fifty-two remaining hostages left Tehran for a a US Air
Force base in West Germany.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts -
35: The freed
Americans were taken from West Germany to Washington
where they were given a hero's welcome along
Pennsylvania Avenue and a reception hosted by President
Reagan at the White House.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts -
36: The 52 U.S.
captives that had been held in Iran were at last
released, ending the 444-day Iran hostage crisis.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts -
37: After the shocking
and deeply upsetting events of the Iran Hostage Crisis
the nation was soon rocked by the revelations of the
Iran-Contra Scandal.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Facts for kids
Iran Hostage Crisis - President Jimmy Carter Video
The article on the Iran Hostage Crisis provides detailed facts and a summary of one of the important events during his presidential term in office. The following
Jimmy Carter video will
give you additional important facts and dates about the political events experienced by the 39th American President whose presidency spanned from January 20, 1977 to January 20, 1981.
Iran Hostage Crisis
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Interesting Facts about Iran Hostage Crisis for kids and schools
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Summary of the Iran Hostage Crisis in US history
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Facts about the Iran Hostage Crisis
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Jimmy Carter from January 20, 1977 to January 20, 1981
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Fast, fun, Iran Hostage Crisis
about major events in his presidency
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Foreign & Domestic
policies of President Jimmy Carter
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