According to the then United States Ambassador to Lebanon, John Gunther Dean, the 13 hostages were released with the assistance of the Palestine Liberation Organization, after Yassir Arafat and Abu Jihad personally traveled to Tehran to secure a concession.
Operation Eagle Claw, failed mission by the U.S. military in April 1980 to rescue Americans who were held during the Iran hostage crisis. The mission highlighted deficiencies within the U.S. military command structure and led to the creation of the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM).
On January 20, 1981, the hostages were finally freed—but only after Ronald Reagan had been sworn in as president.
The SAS team's storming of the building in 17 minutes became one of its most famous operations, recovering all but one of the hostages and killing five of the six hostage-takers.
After months of negotiations, the Iranian government released the hostages in January 1981. The negotiations had been conducted by the Carter administration, while the release was made the first day of the Reagan administration.
Tony Mendez became a legend inside the CIA with his daring 1980 rescue of six American diplomats who were given shelter by the Canadian Embassy in Tehran after the U.S. Embassy had been stormed by Iranian revolutionaries.
Thirty of the original hostages are still alive, with some still suffering the lasting effects of the trauma from their captivity. The families of five former hostages reside in California. “The bravery of these American heroes must be remembered forever,” Senator Padilla said.
On November 4, 1979, Iranian students seized the embassy and detained more than 50 Americans, ranging from the Chargé d'Affaires to the most junior members of the staff, as hostages. The Iranians held the American diplomats hostage for 444 days.
The hostages were held for 444 days, from November 4, 1979 to their release on January 20, 1981. Western media described the crisis as an "entanglement" of "vengeance and mutual incomprehension."
The SAS officers involved in the operation, including Brigadier Peter de la Billière, Director SAS, Lieutenant-Colonel Rose, commander of 22 SAS, and Major Hector Gullan, commander of the team that would undertake any raid, spent the day refining their plans for an assault.
The White House announced the failed rescue operation at 01:00 a.m. the following day (25 April 1980). Iranian Army investigators found nine bodies (eight Americans and one Iranian civilian). The American bodies were later returned to the United States and buried at various locations across the country.
Interesting Facts About the Iran Hostage Crisis
The U.S. embassy in Iran was referred to as a "den of spies" by Islamic leaders. The leaders of the U.S. embassy had warned Carter that they would be in danger if he allowed the Shah into the United States. The hostages were greeted by Jimmy Carter after their release.
The immediate cause of this action was President Jimmy Carter's decision to allow Iran's deposed Shah, a pro-Western autocrat who had been expelled from his country some months before, to come to the United States for cancer treatment.
On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran and took approximately seventy Americans captive.
According to the report, in turn, Carter and his administration helped Khomeini and made sure that the Imperial Iranian army would not launch a military coup.
Sixty-six Americans were taken captive when Iranian militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979, including three who were at the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Six more Americans escaped. Of the 66 who were taken hostage, 13 were released on Nov.
In the Western world, Persia (or one of its cognates) was historically the common name used for Iran.
The CIA drove the six diplomats from Switzerland to the US Ramstein Air Base in West Germany to be flown across the Atlantic to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. The eight Americans in the "caper" left Iran on Sunday, January 27. The Canadians closed their embassy the same day.
Between 1981 and 1986, senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, which was the subject of an arms embargo. The administration hoped to use the proceeds of the arms sale to fund the Contras, a right-wing rebel group, in Nicaragua.
Motivation for the hostage-taking includes: Insurance "against retaliation by the U.S., Syria or any other force" against Hezbollah, for the killing of over 300 Americans in the Marine barracks and embassy bombings in Beirut.
Encourage the negotiation process and keep the focus on outside contact. Capitalize – While encouraging a negotiated release or some other peaceful conclusion, remain alert to rescue efforts and escape opportunities. Research indicates that 80 percent of all hostages worldwide survive their ordeal one way or another.
noun. /ˈhɒstɪdʒ teɪkə(r)/ /ˈhɑːstɪdʒ teɪkər/ a person, often one of a group, who captures somebody and holds them prisoner, and who may injure or kill them if people do not do what the person or group is asking.
Koob and the other female officer, Ann Swift, remained as the only two female hostages. The women were separated from each other for four months, held alone in separate rooms of the embassy. Their only direct human contact was with their male and female Iranian student guards.
During the hostage crisis, a 15-year-old boy and an 18-year-old woman were killed. A third victim, a 31-year-old police officer, died in a traffic accident while chasing the hostage-takers. At the time, the unfolding of events was extensively covered by West German media, which quickly spiraled into a media circus.
The FBI's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT)—federal law enforcement's only full-time counterterrorism unit—is a highly trained group of special agents often called upon during the toughest times.