Ayatollah Khomeini
- As Khomeini came to power, Western Influence = weakened
- Students/Young ppl: anti-foreign influence and Western interference
- 1979: 3 students take control of US Embassy. Hours later, mass protest appeared outside embassy
- This was because the Shah had been sent to US for medical treatment of cancer. The Iranians wanted to put the Shah on trial
- Thus, anti-US interference + no Shah trial = Students overthrew US embassy
- 3 months after Embassy take over: US enforced sanctions: assets had been frozen (couldn’t upgrade weaponry and machinery) and imposed Oil Sanctions (loss of income and revenue)
- Shah left US in Dec 1979 (eventually sought asylum in Egypt), but Khomeini refused to release hostages
- 24 April 1980: Operation Eagle Claw
- US flew 8 helicopters out to Tehran to try to recapture the hostages
- The helicopters flew low to avoid radar, but flew into a sandstorm.
- 2 helicopters developed faults in the air, so the whole fleet of copters decided to land at the desert check point.
- When they landed, a third helicopter had been damaged; they decided to fly home
- When they were flying back a helicopter collided with a refuelling aircraft and the helicopter was destroyed and lives were lost (8)
- September 1980 Iraq invaded Iran
- Iraq thought that the US had been behind the invasion
- The UN called for a ceasefire, but did NOT demand Iraq to withdraw - UN = US puppet?
- January 1981, a total of 444 days of captivity
- A few seconds after Jimmy Carter had lost presidency, and Ronald Reagan had become president, it was announced that the captives had been released
- This = worry: Reagan would have been a lot harder to negotiate with if the negotiations spilled into his time in office
- Perhaps Khomeini = trying to get rid of Carter as president?
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