November 4, 1979 was the day Iranian students stormed the US embassy and took its personnel hostage, holding them for 444 days.
AP COVERED IT: Iran students seize US Embassy in Tehran
I saw an interesting article this past weekend where one of the former students involved in the takeover said that he regrets his actions. 40 years after Iran hostage crisis, one of the student regrets U.S. Embassy takeover
So, their original plan was apparently not very well thought out, but once it was set in motion, the Ayatollah took control and it was out of the students' hands.
What I find interesting about all of this is that, during much of the 1970s, particularly as a result of a profound shift in policy which was accelerated by the anti-war and civil rights movements, America was trying to move away from militarism and the national security state which was tainted by Watergate and other perceived government malfeasance. But when the Iranians took over the US embassy, it was somewhat of a shock to Americans similar to, although not as intense as, the response to 9/11.
In my opinion, this was the single issue that pretty much killed the Carter presidency and led to Ronald Reagan's election in 1980. The Iranians effectively made Carter look weak and impotent, while Reagan was the cowboy star, who was also a militarist, and generally thought of as a war-monger. As a result, US policy shifted back towards greater militarism which continued through multiple presidents and led us to where we are today, with Iran and the US knocking heads over various disputes.
All because of "a plan of students, unprofessional and temporary." Yet it appears to have had more permanent results.
AP COVERED IT: Iran students seize US Embassy in Tehran
I saw an interesting article this past weekend where one of the former students involved in the takeover said that he regrets his actions. 40 years after Iran hostage crisis, one of the student regrets U.S. Embassy takeover
His revolutionary fervor diminished by the years that have also turned his dark brown hair white, one of the Iranian student leaders of the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover says he now regrets the seizure of the diplomatic compound and the 444-day hostage crisis that followed.
Speaking to The Associated Press ahead of Monday’s 40th anniversary of the attack, Ebrahim Asgharzadeh acknowledged that the repercussions of the crisis still reverberate as tensions remain high between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran’s collapsing nuclear deal with world powers.
Like other former students, Asgharzadeh said the plan had been simply to stage a sit-in. But the situation soon spun out of their control. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the long-exiled Shiite cleric whose return to Iran sparked the revolution, gave his support to the takeover. He would use that popular angle to expand the Islamists’ power.
Demonstrators burn an American flag, Nov. 9, 1979, atop the wall of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. (Thierry Campion/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
“We, the students, take responsibility for the first 48 hours of the takeover,” Asgharzadeh said. “Later, it was out of our hands since the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the establishment supported it.”
He added: “Our plan was one of students, unprofessional and temporary.”
As time went on, it slowly dawned on the naive students that Americans wouldn’t join their revolution. While a rescue attempt by the U.S. military would fail and Carter would lose to Ronald Reagan amid the crisis, the U.S. as a whole expressed worry about the hostages by displaying yellow ribbons and counting the days of their captivity.
As the months passed, things only got worse. Asgharzadeh said he thought it would end once the shah left America or later with his death in Egypt in July 1980. It didn’t.
So, their original plan was apparently not very well thought out, but once it was set in motion, the Ayatollah took control and it was out of the students' hands.
What I find interesting about all of this is that, during much of the 1970s, particularly as a result of a profound shift in policy which was accelerated by the anti-war and civil rights movements, America was trying to move away from militarism and the national security state which was tainted by Watergate and other perceived government malfeasance. But when the Iranians took over the US embassy, it was somewhat of a shock to Americans similar to, although not as intense as, the response to 9/11.
In my opinion, this was the single issue that pretty much killed the Carter presidency and led to Ronald Reagan's election in 1980. The Iranians effectively made Carter look weak and impotent, while Reagan was the cowboy star, who was also a militarist, and generally thought of as a war-monger. As a result, US policy shifted back towards greater militarism which continued through multiple presidents and led us to where we are today, with Iran and the US knocking heads over various disputes.
All because of "a plan of students, unprofessional and temporary." Yet it appears to have had more permanent results.