US Relations and Hostage Crisis

Hostile turn

Iran's relationship with the West changed from under imperialism to hostile, with chants of "Marg bar Amrika" (death to America)

Start of the Hostage Crisis

In response to President Carter allowing the Shah into the US for cancer treatment, 400 university students overran the US Embassy on 4 November 1979 and took 52 diplomats hostage; they were not released until 20 January 1981 - 444 days later

Motivation for the takeover

Fear of a repeat of the 1953 coup being planned in the embassy

Impact on the US public

Photos and TV footage of hostages, handcuffed and blindfolded, made a deep impression on the US

Khomeini's propaganda use

Claimed triumph over a global superpower, labelling the US the source of "universal arrogance" and "the Great Satan"; he encouraged the students by saying "the Americans can't do a damn thing" and hailed the act as a second revolution

Carter's response

Condemned Khomeini's regime, describing the hostages as "victims of terror and anarchy"; the US froze $12 billion of Iranian assets, banned Iranian oil imports and introduced sanctions aimed to hinder the Iranian "military forces" as well as "the oil sector and manufacturing" (Special Coordination Committee Meeting, January 1980)

Reagan's isolation of Iran

Although the crisis was resolved, Reagan's administration effectively isolated Iran from the global market - only $4 billion of frozen assets were received

Algiers Accords

1981 resolution of the crisis; Point 1: "The United States pledges that it is and from now on will be the policy of the United States not to intervene, directly or indirectly, politically or militarily, in Iran's internal affairs."

US concerns in the Iran-Iraq war

A "northern concern" of Soviet influence in Iran, and a "southern concern" about Iran dominating its Gulf neighbours if it won, disproportionately affecting oil supply (NSC, Shultz, 8 December 1986)

The strategic dilemma

The US dealt with both sides of the war at once: $1.5 billion in dual-use tech to Iraq in 1985, while selling arms to Iran in the 1986 Iran-Contra Affair (to fund the Contras in Nicaragua)

Consequence of US cynicism

Shaped the war into a war of attrition, as the Americans didn't commit to either side; 500,000 died with no side gaining significant territory