HUMAN 1C Chapter Notes - Chapter all: Iran Hostage Crisis, Reza Shah
Inside Iran’s Fury
●Scholars trace the nation’s antagonism to its history of domination by foreign
powers
●Early 1980s Iran hostage crisis
○ Militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran, captured American
diplomats and staff and held 52 of them captive for 444 day
○ Pivotal to US-Iran relations
● Laingen yells at captor how this is unfair, captor responds “You have nothing to
complain about,” he told Laingen. “The United States took our whole country
hostage in 1953.”
● Iran had descended into dictatorship after the United States overthrew the most
democratic government it had ever known
● To iranians hostage crisis was justified considering what happened in 1953
● Iran’s assertiveness on the global stage—especially its defiant pursuit of what it
sees as its sovereign right to a nuclear program—is in part the product of
traumatic events that have shaped its national consciousness over the course of
generations.
○ Goal is to destroy foreign powers that dominated Iran
● For nearly 150 years, Russia and Britain dominated Iran’s economy and
manipulated its leaders
● 1891 “The tobacco revolt was the moment when they stood up and said they’d
had enough.”
○ British took over tobacco industry
● Early 1900s russia and britain treated iran as a colony
● The Anglo-Persian Agreement, which all but ended Iran’s status as an
independent state, sparked a second uprising in 1921
● Reza Shah (king) built the country’s first railway, established a national bank and
stripped clerics of much of their power. Shockingly, he banned the veil for
Document Summary
Scholars trace the nation"s antagonism to its history of domination by foreign. Militants stormed the u. s. embassy in tehran, captured american diplomats and staff and held 52 of them captive for 444 day. Laingen yells at captor how this is unfair, captor responds you have nothing to complain about, he told laingen. The united states took our whole country hostage in 1953. Iran had descended into dictatorship after the united states overthrew the most democratic government it had ever known. To iranians hostage crisis was justified considering what happened in 1953. Goal is to destroy foreign powers that dominated iran. For nearly 150 years, russia and britain dominated iran"s economy and manipulated its leaders. 1891 the tobacco revolt was the moment when they stood up and said they"d had enough. Early 1900s russia and britain treated iran as a colony.
