The 40 Year Legacy of the Iranian Hostage Crisis
On November 4th, Iranian conservatives celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Iran Hostage Crisis. As Iran continues to detain and hold Americans today, the 444-day standoff between the United States and the Iranian Revolutionaries remains highly salient in the discussion of U.S.-Iran relations. The crisis may have officially concluded on January 20th of 1981, but the hostage situation left a lasting legacy that emboldens and inspires Iran’s hostility to date.
“The hostage crisis was America’s first fully televised foreign crisis, and that image of Iranians as ferocious, fanatic bearded men shaking their fists at the camera crept into the American consciousness in a way that basically has never been changed,” said Gary Sick, the chief White House aide for Iran in 1979.
The Iran hostage crisis commenced in 1979 amidst the turmoil of the Iranian Revolution when Iranian students seized the American embassy in Tehran. Detaining 52 diplomats, Iranians demanded the return of the exiled Shah and an American apology for its role in the 1953 coup that strengthened and consolidated his power. The scenes of the hostages and their captors horrified the American public at the time and precipitated an enduring, negative perception of the Islamic Republic.
From the Iranian perspective, however, the hostages were a means of maintaining leverage over the U.S. and of legitimising the revolution through a demonstration of determination and resolve. The motivations today have changed only in superficial ways and essentially remain the same. As the west’s suspicions of Iran intensify, moreover, Iran only becomes further emboldened to detain westerners in an effort to gain concessions.
The Iranian government is currently detaining 16 foreign prisoners, and five of whom are American. With rising tensions between Washington and Tehran, their chances for liberation seem increasingly unlikely. For instance, the Trump administration has withdrawn from the Iranian Nuclear Deal and re-imposed sanctions on Iran that have been crippling the economy. More recently, Iran has been accused of attacking oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally in the region. Despite denying these allegations, stability in the middle east has seemed more fragile than ever, as the major powers seem to be at a stalemate in their contest for regional hegemony.
True to the circumstances of the Iran Hostage Crisis, the tension between the U.S. and Iran only seems resolvable through talks and negotiations. For instance, in 2015, Iran released three American prisoners in exchange for $400 million in funds that were a condition of the Iran Nuclear Deal. Neither side has seemed willing or open to diplomacy thus far, however, and both countries seem to be further entrenching themselves in their views.
“Avoiding negotiations is one of the ways to block American infiltration,” said Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a speech. “Some imagine negotiating with the U.S. will solve the problems. This is one hundred percent wrong.”
Iran, instead, has elected to deny that it has imprisoned Americans for bargaining purposes, and has accused the U.S. of hostage taking, referencing the nearly 20 Iranians detained in the U.S. for attempting to evade sanctions. Contributing the deterioration in the stalemate, the U.S. has refused to engage in a swap of prisoners, reinforcing their argument that the circumstances are inherently different. The U.S. has continually regarded any offers as illegitimate and believes the Iranian Foreign Minister’s only intention with these offers is to improve Iran’s reputational disposition.
Although the Iran Hostage Crisis is not overwhelmingly celebrated in Iran, the date and anniversary retain symbolic meaning for Iranian conservatives who wish to preserve the legacy of those 444 days. The former U.S. embassy has been converted into a museum to commemorate the standoff, and the building is painted with murals that reflect the national temperament toward American hegemony. While relations between the U.S. and Iran have been rapidly deteriorating in recent years, US-Iran diplomacy today is nothing more than a continuation of a trend that began in 1979.
Many criticise both Iran and the U.S. for their failure to recognise and ameliorate the oftentimes dire situations for those caught in their diplomatic game. Many American hostages in Iran, for instance, need medical treatment that they are not able to receive while detained. The Iran Hostage Crisis, however, has been a crux of Islamic Republic since the overthrow of the Shah, and it has influenced foreign policy decisions for the Iranian people and politicians for over 40 years. As Iran expands its portfolio of hostages to nationals of other nations, as well, the Iran Hostage Crisis maintains its prominence in the discussion and outlook of Iranian foreign policy.
