November 17, 1979 - Thirteen U.S. Hostages Released from Iran

The U.S. hostages were blindfolded and paraded in front
of the Iranian public.

Imagine going to the U.S. Embassy in another country for safety, to quickly find that people from that country have taken charge and are holding U.S. citizens hostage. On November 4, 1979 attack of the United States Embassy in Iran was led by a group of angry students, who quickly captured the building, due to government leader Ruhollah Khomeini . Ruhollah Khomeini was an Iranian religious leader and politician and eventually became the supreme leader of Iran after the Iranian revolution which forced the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. Khomeini was anti-American and wanted to protest against the United States. The protest against the United States arose, when Carter allowed the former ruler Shah of Iran to enter the United States for medical treatment. (1) Iran demanded the U.S. government send the Shah back to stand trial. (2) In November 1979, Iranian militants, protesting against the U.S.’s refusal to send the Shah back to Iran, captured the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took more than fifty Americans hostage.

During the crisis many hostages were treated poorly. Most hostages were blind-folded and paraded in front of the Iranian public. The parade was not only seen by the Iranian public, but it was also broadcasted for Americans to see. The hostages went for months without being able to contact their families in America to tell them they were okay. On November 17, 1979 Khomeini orders the release of thirteen female and African-American hostages from the embassy. Thirteen hostages were released to alleviate the crisis, because the Shah was on his way to the Panama. After the release of the thirteen hostages in November, only one more hostage was released in July 1980, due to illness.

Many attempts to rescue the American hostages are made by the CIA, but they are not successful. The first mission set out to rescue the hostages by Carter was a complete failure. (5) Three helicopters were sent over to Iran, but neither of the three made it successfully. Upon take off, all the helicopters now functioned and crashed killing their passengers. Finally, on the day of Ronald Regan’s inauguration, all the hostages were freed and safety back in America, to be welcomed home.

The return of the hostages safely back to the U.S, January 1981.

Upon the release of all the hostages, Carter had to unfreeze all the assets of Iran.

The significance of this event is that it ruined Carter’s presidency and caused more problems between the United States and Iran. This event made Carter look like an inefficient leader of our country. (6) Due to the hostage crisis many other problems also began to occur between the two countries. For example, the relationship between the two countries deteriorated further.


- Amanda D and Brandon C


[1] “THE 1979 IRANIAN US EMBASSY SIEGE AND HOSTAGE CRISIS. WAS IT A COVERT CIA OPERATION?” Global Research, accessed 6 November, 2013,
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-1979-iranian-us-embassy-siege-and-hostage-crisis-was-it-a-covert-cia-operation
[2] “Iran-U.S. Hostage Crisis” History Guy, accessed 6 November, 2013,
http://www.historyguy.com/iran-us_hostage_crisis.html#.UoFtQOKRJag
[3] “Iran Hostage Crisis” Sheppard Software accessed 6 November, 2013,
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Middleeastweb/factfile/Unique-facts-MiddleEast9.htm
[4] “Iran Hostage Crisis” EVResourcesSite accessed 11 November, 2013,
http://evresourcesite.wikispaces.com/Iran+Hostage+Crisis