Did American foreign policy and influence lead to the Iranian revolution and spark the Iranian hostage crisis?
Part A
This investigation determines to what extent American foreign policy, within the years 1953-1982, caused the Iranian embassy siege. Furthermore, it questions the role that the Carter and Kennedy administrations had in furthering the American agenda within Iran. In order to assess the role American influence played, this investigation evaluates the relations between the Carter administration and Mohammed Raza Pahlevi during his tenure as Shah. Carter’s Middle-Eastern foreign policy is examined to gain further insight into the influence that the United States had over Pahlevi. Also, the role that the televised address from President Carter played in igniting the Iranian revolution is also considered. The events that sparked the Iranian Revolution and the subsequent coup that ousted the Shah from power are also considered. By utilizing a variety of sources such as academic journals, books, and films; this investigation will attempt to illustrate the role that American influence and foreign policy played in sparking the hostage crisis.
Part B
Prior to the downfall of the Iranian Shah, Mohammed Raza Pahlevi, Iran was a strong American ally. In 1953, the United States played a large role in the ousting of democratically elected Premier Mohammed Mossadeq. The downfall of Mossadeq brought the Shah Pahlevi back into power. Through Operation Ajax, the CIA forced Mossadeq to resign by utilizing tactics such as bribing key figures in Mossadeq’s government, placing false statements in national newspapers and instigating violence and protests. The reinstatement of the Iranian Shah was to the advantage of the United States as it ...
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...ution. It did have a large impact but the according to historians, the rising rate of modernization had a far greater role as a catalyst of the Iranian Revolution. American influence and foreign policy had large impacts on the Iranian Revolution. Furthermore, American foreign policy had a direct impact on the Iranian hostage crisis.
Works Cited
American Presidency Project. 31 December 1977. 16 May 2014.
Argo. Dir. Ben Affleck. Perf. Ben Affleck. 2012.
New York Times. 13 April 2012. 2014 4 May.
Rubin. "American Relations." Rubin. n.d. 305-3015.
Schaefer, Sandy. ScreenRant. n.d. 18 May 2014.
Sick, Gary. United States Institute of Peace. n.d. 3 May 2014.
The Robert S. Strauss Centre. August 2008. 1 May 2014.
Wise, Krysta. "Islamic Revolution of 1979: The Downfall of American- Iranian Relations." Open Southern Illinois University Carbondale (2012): 1-16. Electronic.
Kinzer tells us that the Iranians celebrated their nationalism in taking control of their oil, but their success was a shock to the British multinational companies in Iran. They did not like the idea of Iran nationalization, so they plan a coup to overthrow the Prime Minister Mossadegh. But this plan failed and the British were disarmed and sent back to their country closing down their embassy in Iran. The British tried to present their case to the United State in a way that the United State would intervene. So they presented a case that Mossaghe is not only nationalizing the Iranians oil, he is also leading Iran into communism. This case stirred the American action and they feared if they assassinate Mossaghe, his seat will be open and communist ...
For decades, U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East had depended on a friendly government in Iran. The newly appointed leader, the shah of Iran, began Westernizing the country and taking away power from the Ayatollah, powerful religious leaders. The United States poured millions of dollars into Iran’s economy and the shah’s armed forces, overlooking the rampant corruption in government and well-organized opposition. By early 1979, the Ayatollah had murdered the Shah and taken back power of the government. A group of students who took the American embassy hostage on November 4th, 1979, turned the embassy over to the religious leaders. Carter knew he must take action in order to regain the American embassy and the hostages, but with all of the military cutbacks, the rescue attempt was a complete failure and embarrassment. It took the United States 444 days to rescue the hostages. This was the final straw for many Americans, and enough to push them to the “right” side of the political spectrum, Republican.
Between the years of 1983 and 1986, the United States was involved in a series of covert operations, collectively known as the Iran-Contra Affair. These operations were at best controversial, and at worst blatantly illegal.The Iran-Contra Affair (or the Iran Contra-Scandal) revolved around the issue of foreign policy, specifically with regards to Iran and Nicaragua. In 1979, revolution in Iran resulted in a complete change in the countries relationship with the United States. Having previously been an ally of the U.S., Iran, under its new regime, had become decidedly anti-American. These changes caused a time period of unrest that lasted into the mid 1980’s between the U.S. and Iran. Stabilizing the situation in Iran was one of the key objectives that motivated many of the authorities who were ultimately responsible for the Iran-Contra Affair. In 1985, seven hostages were taken by a terrorist group in Lebanon. This terrorist group had ties with Iran. Therefore, when Iran requested that the United States sell arms to them, President Reagan saw it as a potential way of getting the hostages returned. President Reagan wanted to see them returned safely, and hoped to restore good relations between the U.S. and Iran in the process. Many members of Congress were strongly against the idea. To go through with the arms deal was in direct violation of several laws, including policies against selling arms to entities on lists of terrorists countries, or terrorist-friendly countries, (Iran was included on such lists). Additionally, in negotiating with Iran, the Reagan administration would be dealing with known “terrorists,” something Reagan was openly very against. Nevertheless, the Reagan administration granted the Iranian’s request, in spit...
America and Iran had tricked the Soviets which left them very angry, and this inevitably led to the Cold War. But less than a decade later, America had done something which caused Iran to change their opinion of them. In 1951, Iran had recently elected a prime minister by the name, Mohammed Mosaddeq, which he nationalized the countryś petroleum industry, long the domain of the British-dominated AIOC. This move, however, pitted the two governments against each other in a bitter political fight. The Truman administration had tried to work between both sides, but Dwight Eisenhower had quickly concluded that Mosaddeq represented the problem rather than the solution to the crisis. They decided that they wanted him out and later he was kicked out and Mohammad Reza Shah took his place for the next twenty-five years. Shah not only gained access to sophisticated American weaponry, but also obtained tacit White House permission to forgo any serious effort at reform. Over the years, the internal resentment against the Shahś political and economic policies was building to a peak, but the depth of the problem escaped the notice of American
Kinzer, Stephen. All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley & Sons, 2003. Print.
...ries and the 1979 revolution. The author presents Iran through the leadership of mullahs and shah tradition. The book has rich information covering the history of Iran. Mottahedeh managed to develop an impressive book that satisfies the curiosity of a reader wanting to understand the history, culture and political atmosphere of Iran through the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century. Roy Parviz Mottahedeh and Ali Hashemi represent two views of Islamic learning and Iranian history and culture. While Ali Hashemi represents a religious view of Islamic learning and history of Iran, Parviz represents a secular view of Islamic learning and ambiguity of culture in Iran. The two views help to bring out the ways in which Islamic religion and culture influenced political atmosphere, in Iran especially at a time when politics in Iran was shaped by religion.
The 1953 Iranian coup d’état was the CIA’s first successful overthrow of a foreign government. It was seen as an action to stop a possible Iranian communist takeover led by Mohamed Mossadeq, the Iranian prime minister at the time. But in actuality, the U.S. and Britain were more afraid of the imposing Soviet threat in the region. Because Britain and other western countries issued sanctions on Iran as a consequence to oil nationalization, the Britain and the U.S. feared that Mossadeq would turn to the Soviet Union in an effort to stabilize Iran’s economy. Fearing that Iran would soon be influenced by communism, the U.S. looked at the option of regime change as an answer to the ongoing crisis. In 1953, under the Eisenhower administration, a CIA coup to overthrow Mossadeq was authorized. After three days of CIA organized riots in Iran, Mossadeq surrendered, Fazlollah Zahedi, as chosen by the CIA, succeeded Mossadeq as prime minster of Iran. Now that Mossadeq, once a leader of the democratic movement in Iran, was no longer a political force, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi came back to power, now with little political opposition and supported by the United States and Britain. The CIA coup was originally intended as a solution for the Iranian oil crisis, but its occurrence later caused undesirable results in future. Although the real reason for the CIA overthrow of the Iranian government was to protect geopolitical interests from the Soviet threat in the region, the United States, did not foresee the negative, long term effects of coup, some of which are still evident today.
In November 1979, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, a recently overthrown Shah of Iran, asked President Jimmy Carter for admission to the United States. President Carter initially refused, knowing that ramifications would come from the Shiite community. However, upon learning that Pahlavi had cancer, President Carter, in a conversational gesture, allowed Pahlavi and his wife to enter the country. As President Carter had guessed, Shiite students, in the city, of Tehran schemed a plan to “free” Pahlavi and bring him to justice for his crimes. On November 4, 1979, they took over the United states embassy in Tehran and took hostage of the sixty-six Americans in the embassy. After over one hundred days of negotiations, President Carter grew tired of waiting, and order a military helicopter strike. Because the strike did not receive the right amount of planning, the helicopters ran into swirling sand, and nine of the helicopters crashed. Immediately following this botched evacuation, Iran became stingier, and the negotiations dragged on for almost an entire year before the American’s gained their freedom. Many historians theorize that had the evacuation received the proper planning, the operation could have actually resulted in success, and the prisoners would not stayed in captivity for so long.
To begin with President Carter immediately ordered for all imports from Iran to be stopped, and 8 million US dollars were frozen in Iran assets (Iran Hostage Crisis). This was an attempt to weaken the economic standpoint of Iran, in hopes to pressure them to give back the hostages. However, Iran went unphased from the economic sanctions placed on them by the United States and its allies (Britannica). Contrary to the United States short term effects, Iran faced significant long term conflicts regarding their global stance. As a request to free the hostages, Iran demanded for the assets to be unfrozen, immunity in all civil cases, and for the US to assure they will not to intervene with Iran’s culture or lifestyle in future affairs. Much to their liking, they closed a deal in which all three requests were meet (Iran Hostage Crisis). In the big picture Iran lost allies and ties to other countries around the world. However from the crisis, they upset the American people and their president, they were never forced to pay for the damages they had done. Because of this incident it left a bitterness between the two countries which still lingers
Throughout the 20th century, the United States tried to control Iran to ensure the exportation of oil to America. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi came to power in 1941 and became allies with the United States. However in the 1950s, Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh began to gain political power. Unlike the Shah, he was extremely against western influence in Iran. Mossadegh won national elections and he demanded more power. In order to retain influence in Iran, the CIA helped overthrow Mossadegh and bring Pahlavi back to power....
In the 1970’s Iran, under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was a very centralized military state that maintained a close relationship with the USA. The Shah was notoriously out of touch with working class Iranians as he implemented many controversial economic policies against small business owners that he suspected involved profiteering. Also unrestricted economic expansions in Iran lead to huge government expenditure that became a serious problem when oil prices dropped in the mid 1970’s. This caused many huge government construction projects to halt and the economy to stall after many years of massive profit. Following this was high rates of inflation that affected Iranians buying power and living standards. (Afary, 2012) Under the Shah, political participation was not widely available for all Iranians and it was common for political opposition to be met with harassment, illegal detention, and even torture. These measures were implemented by the Iranian secret police knows as ‘SAVAK’. This totalitarian regime combined with the increasing modernisation of the country paved the way for revolution.
Tension rises as the relationship between two countries weakens. This can lead to war or many other types of crises. A mob of young Islamic revolutionaries captured 66 Americans and put them in hostage on November 4th, 1979 in the American Embassy in Tehran (PBS). Thirteen of these hostages were woman and therefore released and one was send home for severe medical conditions (Jimmy Carter Library). No one could clearly tell who the Islamic students symbolized or what they wished to succeed. An Islamic government ruled by Ayatollah Khomeini risen up to power and Khomeini never favored the Americans (PBS). Special oil discounts that were given to Americans from the Shah were the cause of the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979 (Iran Chamber Society). The hostages had to go through many hardships as well as Jimmy Carter, the President of the U.S at the time who was put to the test with dealing with weak foreign relations. During the Iranian hostage crisis the civil liberties of the Iranians and Americans were violated due to the Shah, poor government leaders, and how the American hostages were treated.
In All The Shah’s Men there seems to be a very strong hatred for all foreign powers, including the United States, taken by the citizens of Iran. I believe that this ultimately occurred because of the impatience of certain government officials in Washington D.C., and also in Great Britain. If only there could have been better communication between countries, I feel that there would have been a solution reached. The stubbornness of the British for the most part, led to many lives being lost, and a feeling of perpetual disgust being shown towards the United States for their involvement. Although the British were our allies and we did have an extreme fear of communism taking over the free world, this coup was disorganized, forced along too quickly, and put forth without any guidance or strong evidence, which in the end proved to completely defy what the United States was trying to impose on the world, and what Mossadegh was trying to give his people; freedom and democracy.
Although the Iranian Revolution was caused by combination of political and religious motivations and ideas, the desires of the people supporting the movement were more dominantly religious ideas that were wished to be imposed in society and in a new government. The Shah, or king, of Iran at the time was Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, who had developed relations with nations in “western” world, specifically with the United States. The United States supported the White Revolution, which was a series of social reformations the Shah made to remove Islamic v...
Iran lost the support of the US in 1979 after the hostage crisis in Tehran, Iran. In Tehran, “66 members of the US embassy staff were taken hostage by Khomeini’s supporters” (Steele 12). The hostages were held for 444 days (Steele 12). The aftermath of the crisis was the international isolation of Iran. The US being a superpower, drove similar responses in its allies. Iran had lost a majority of their allies, which would hurt them during the war. In addition to the loss of the support of the Western countries, the Arab countries were also against Iran and supporting Iraq. The Arab countries also shared Iraq’s trepidations about the Iranian rhetoric of “exporting Islamic Revolution” (Karsh). As reported by graduate Mr. Jacek, Iran was left to defend itself economically and militarily. The other superpower at the time, the Soviet Union, had a positive relationship with Iran in the beginning. The Soviet Union had been supporting Iran in the beginning of the war. The Soviet Union then carried out an invasion of Afghanistan, and Tehran opposed the Soviet role in the invasion of Afghanistan. Iran’s relations with the Soviet Union became problematic, which negatively affected Iran (Karsh). The war with Iraq slowed down Iran’s research. Near the end of the Iran – Iraq War, Iran started working with a rogue nation, North Korea. The countries partnered up to work