The End of the Hostage Crisis in Iran

On the 20th of January 1981, Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as the 40th president of the United States. Several minutes later, 52 US captives held at the US Embassy in Tehran, Iran were released, officially marking the end of the Iran hostage crisis. The diplomatic standoff lasted for 444 days.

The crisis between the United States and Iran began on the 4th of November 1979, when militant Iranian students seized the US Embassy in Tehran due to outrage at the former for allowing Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi, an ousted Shah of Iran, to travel to New York to receive medical treatment for cancer. Iran’s religious and political leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, took charge of the hostage situation, calling the US “The Great Satan” and refusing any appeals for the hostages’ release. 

Two weeks after they took over the embassy, Ayatollah began to release some of their hostages, specifically those who were not US citizens, minority Americans, and females. He cited these groups as being among the people whom the US government had oppressed. In the end, 52 hostages remained at the mercy of Khomeini, enduring their captivity for 14 months to come.

President at the time, Jimmy Carter, was unsuccessful in resolving the crisis diplomatically. On the 24th of April 1980, he ordered a rescue mission which turned out to be a disastrous one, ending with no hostages rescued and eight casualties among the US military personnel involved. Three months later, the former Shah died in Egypt from his illness, but the crisis continued. During the 1980 presidential election, Carter lost to Ronald Reagan, which paved the way for the start of successful negotiations between the two countries with the help of Algerian intermediaries.

On the day Reagan was inaugurated, the US released close to $8 billion Iranian assets which they had on hold. In turn, the hostages were released, bringing their 444 days of captivity to an end. The following day, Jimmy Carter went to West Germany to greet his fellow Americans on their way back home.