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Sun, Dec 20, 2009 | By Crethi Plethi
Iran Hostage Crisis – Letter from Carter to Khomeini
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States (during the Jimmy Carter Administration) where 53 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American embassy in support of the Iranian Revolution.
The episode reached a climax when, after failed attempts to negotiate a release, the United States military attempted a rescue operation, Operation Eagle Claw, on April 24, 1980, which resulted in a failed mission, the crash of two aircraft and the deaths of eight American servicemen and one Iranian civilian. It ended with the signing of the Algiers Accords in Algeria on January 19, 1981. The hostages were formally released into United States custody the following day, just minutes after the new American president Ronald Reagan was sworn in. [Source: Iran hostage crisis – Wikipedia.]
THE WHITE HOUSE
Washington
November 6, 1979
Dear Ayatollah Khomeini:
Based on the willingness of the Revolutionary Council to receive them, I am asking two distinguished Americans, Mr. Ramsey Clark and Mr. William G. Miller, to carry this letter to you and to discuss with you and your designees the situation in Tehran and the full range of current issues between the U.S. and Iran.
In the name of the American people, I ask that you release unharmed all Americans presently detained in Iran and those held with them and allow them to leave your country safely and without delay. I ask you to recognize the compelling humanitarian reasons, firmly based in international law, for doing so.
I have asked both men to meet with you and to hear from you your perspective on events in Iran and the problems which have arisen between our two countries. The people of the United States desire to have relations with Iran based upon equality, mutual respect, and friendship.
They will report to me immediately upon their return.
Sincerely,
(signed) Jimmy Carter
His Excellency
Ayatollah Khomeini
Qom, Iran
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[…] of captivity instead of the 444 days that they were forced to endure. Instead, Carter wrote a polite letter to the Ayatollah requesting that the hostages be released. The letter appeared only to embolden […]
[…] of captivity instead of the 444 days that they were forced to endure. Instead, Carter wrote a polite letter to the Ayatollah requesting that the hostages be released. The letter appeared only to embolden […]
[…] The letter was submitted to U.S. president George W. Bush via the Swiss embassy in Tehran and broke 27 years of official silence between leaders of the two governments since the 1979 revolution in Iran and the Iran Hostage crisis (See also: “Letter from U.S. President Carter to Ayatollah Khomeini“). […]