2. 1979
• Islamic Revolution in Iran
• Saddam Hussein rises to power in Iraq
• The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan
• Ayatollah Khomeini urges increased attacks on
American and Israeli interests – 53 American
hostages are later taken by Iranian
demonstrators
4. Everything changes
• By a 98% vote, the citizens of Iran elect an
Islamic Republican government
• American control in Iran immediately ends
• Khomeini wants to spread the Revolution
throughout the Middle East – throw out the
West
• American hostages are taken in reaction to
American control of Iran through the Shah
5. “The Conquest of the American Spy
Den”
• Refers to the Iranian invasion of the US
embassy in Tehran in 1979
• 53 hostages were held for 444 days
• Carter authorizes the first Delta Force mission
to free the hostages
• Operation Eagle Claw is a complete disaster –
8 Americans killed and 2 helicopters destroyed
6. Crisis in Iran continued
• Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi dies July 1980
• Iraq invades Iran in September
• Iran is motivated to negotiate an end to the
crisis
• All remaining hostages are released minutes
after Reagan’s inauguration.
• US-Iranian relations have been hostile ever
since (precedent of US economic sanctions)
7. Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988
• Iran – Sunni Majority
• Iraq – Shia majority (governed by the Sunni
minority under Saddam Huessein)
• Saddam feared the Iranian Revolution would
spread and threaten his leadership
• Iran had supported Kurdish rebels in North
Iraq since the 1960s
8. Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988
• Iraq halted by 1982
• 6 years of WWI-type fighting
• More than 500,000 killed
• No border changes or gains by either side
• Iraq uses chemical and biological weapons
against Iran
• Who would the US and Soviet Union support
during this war?
9. Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988
• US backs Iraq (forced) USSR back Iran
• US provides weapons (conventional, chemical
and biological) to Iraq
• Many of those weapons are used against
Iranian soldiers, Kurds and American soldiers
in the 1991 Persian Gulf War
10. Iran Contra Scandal
• Story comes to light in 1986
• While publicly supporting Iraq, US officials in
Reagan’s administration secretly sell weapons
to the Iranian military (violated embargo law)
• Funds were to be used to support American
backed rebel fighters in Nicaragua (violation of
Congressional law)
