The Iran army seized and held hostage more than sixty-six American citizens at the US embassy during the Iran Hostage crisis. More than fifty-two US citizens were held hostage in Tehran for more than one year. The event happened immediately after Iran Islamic Revolution, which took place between 1978 and 79 (Jensehaugen, 2019). In 1908, British pioneers discovered Iran's plentiful oil fields and proceeded to establish the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (known now as BP), a tremendous source of wealth for Britain and its Western allies. Decades later, democratically elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh threatened to nationalize Iran's oil industry. The move outraged Britain and prompted PM Winston Churchill to work with President Dwight Eisenhower to organize a coup d 'état to overthrow the Iranian government.
The history of the U.S/UK intervention in Iran has coloured Western relations with Iran negatively and impacted Iran's current political system negatively as well. For example, the diplomatic relations between the US and Iran has been informal since the Iran Hostage Crisis. In 1953, the CIA organized coup successfully overthrew Mosaddegh and installed an American backed Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, as Iran's secular leader (Mohammad & Pourhassan, 2019). The Shah remained in power for over two decades until 1979, when his regime was toppled in the Iranian Revolution which transformed Iran from a monarchy into an Islamic theocracy.
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The events that led to the Iran Hostage Crisis are still influencing the Iran-Western relations even today. The influence was evident when the Iranians harboured a deep resentment against Americans for backing the unpopular Shah, which prompted enraged demonstrators to raid the U.S. embassy in Tehran shortly after the Shah was deposed and proceed to hold 52 American diplomats, hostage, for well over a year (Politicalagitator, 2012). In my stance, I think the US needs to stop its invasion into the Western countries because this has continued to create unnecessary tension and led to the death of innocent individuals such as Sulaiman Alaihis Salaam, the former Iranian chief of the military.
References
Jensehaugen, J. (2019). A Palestinian window of opportunity? The PLO, the US and the Iranian hostage crisis. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies , 1-15.
Mohammad, N. M., & Pourhassan, N. (2019). The Geopolitics of Emotion and Iran-US Relations (with Emphasis on Iran Hostage Crisis). Studies of International Relations Journal (Political Science And International Relations Journal), 12 (47); 121 - 150.
Politicalagitator. (2012, May 31). What caused the 1979 US Embassy Hostage Crisis in Iran? YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7RaUQqP_E8&feature=youtu.be
