We remember, read or heard about President Jimmy Carter and the Iran hostage crisis. Well, Iran is happening again this time with President Trump.
The Iran hostage crisis began on November 4, 1979, with 66 hostages taken at the American Embassy in Tehran and 52 kept until the day President Reagan was sworn in to office on January 20, 1981. Just like now, Iranians knew American politics very well and made sure that the crisis was not resolved until the day President Carter, their target for revenge, was out of office.
Iran was of major interest especially to the British and Soviets during World War II because of its oil and as a supply corridor for the Eastern Front. After invading, both powers installed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to assure cooperation.
The Shah continued until his reign ended in 1979 when he fled and the monarchy was abolished in favor of the newly established Islamic Republic of Iran. The newly named leader was Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The resentment against the United States which had been a strong ally of the Shah and had, together with the British, engineered a coup in 1953, designed to conserve their oil interests and strengthen the monarchy, grew when President Carter allowed the deposed Shah to come to the United States for cancer treatment. In revenge, Islamic militants attacked and took over the United States Embassy and everyone inside.
Among the hostages was a detachment of Marines assigned to embassy security. The Marine most seen on American Television was Denver-born William Anthony Gallegos better known to us as Billy Gallegos.
President Donald Trump has done worse things to the Iranians. The United States and Israel’s unprovoked attacks have destroyed much of the military and civilian infrastructure in the name of doing violence to a nation disliked by the West and its Middle Eastern allies.
For Israel, the bombing campaign is about getting rid of a mortal enemy or at least destroy its ability and that of its proxies to terrorize the country. For the United States, the most important outcomes include destroying Iran’s nuclear capability and maintaining open the Strait of Hormuz through which 20 percent of world oil passes.
Now comes the hard part. Given what happened in 1979, it is clear that Iran, the world foremost sponsors of terrorism, is not going to take this lying down and will be in a revenge mode for the foreseeable future. Iran has its bomb capable nuclear material unreachable without a ground war and also keeps the ability to close the Strait of Hormuz at its leisure.
In deciding to go to war without the input of its allies, Trump lost the moral authority to call on them to help bring back normality to the Persian Gulf region and its oil traffic. America’s allies see it as Trump’s war and Trump’s mess.
Iran sits in a strategic location with a lot of influence in determining the health of world economies. Further, it is allied with Russia and China and the block adversarial to the United States.
My sense is that Iran is not going to let bygones be bygones. It will look for every way and opportunity to secure and maintain revengeful leverage on Trump and his administration.
President Carter’s brush with Iran led to 444 days of anxiety and crisis that greatly diminished his chances of getting reelected to the presidency. President Trump’s adventure in the region will no doubt lead to similar results at least in the mid-terms.
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of LaVozColorado. Comments and responses may be directed to News@lavozcolorado.com.
