Hostage Crisis, Tehran

Looking back in 20th century, relation between United States of America and Middle East has undergone quite a lot of issues. Middle East is considered to be the source for fossil fuel, which is in the concern of US. At the same time US, being a leading superpower, is a concern for the Middle East for their cooperation and development. These two parts of the world, which are different religion wise as well as politics wise, necessitate each other. Talking about some of the dreadful events that occurred during 20th century between United States of America and Middle East, Hostage Crisis can be considered to be a dramatic one. “On November 4, 1979, an angry mob of some 300 to 500 "students” attacked the American Embassy in Teheran, Iran, to capture and hold hostage 51 US citizens for 444 days”1

During that period, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was Iran’s traditional and ancestral shah (monarch). He was reinstated in the throne in 1953 after Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh was unseated. It was then, when Pahlavi promised his people for increased personal freedom and other social reforms. This promise in real did not happened. Shah was more concerned about his personal prosperity rather than doing well to his country and its people. In return, people of Iran revolted against the shah, masses of Iranian people gathered together and forced the shah to abdicate the throne and leave the country in January 1979. After that came Ayatollah Khomeini, the new ruler of Iran. He railed against the American government, denouncing it as the "Great Satan" and "Enemy of Islam." When the shah was diagnosed with lymphoma, he requested to be treated by U.S. doctors.1 His request was granted. Angered by the actions of Shah enraged Iranian stormed the American Embassy in Teheran where they held hostage 51 US citizens for 444 long days.

On the other side, Jimmy Carter was the president of United States then. Even before Carters presidency, United States was in the sidelines advocating for an independent Iran under the rule of King Reza Shah Pahlavi. Fearing that popular Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh might be moving Iran closer to Moscow, United States unseated him and consolidated the power under the Shah. With a steady flow of oil from the ground and military equipment from the U.S., the Shah led Iran into a period of unprecedented prosperity.2 On the new years Eve, 1977 Carter toasted the Shah at a state dinner in Tehran, calling him "an island of stability" in the troubled Middle East. It was then, when an opposition of Shah’s government started building up. During the week of Carter’s visit, a chain of dispute broke out in the religious city of Qom, denouncing the Shah's regime as "anti-Islamic."2 This movement against the Shah grew until January 16, 1979, when he fled to Egypt. Two weeks later, thousands of Iranians applauded Khomeini's return to Iran.

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