“It is now very clear that there were two separate agreements, one the official agreement with Carter in Algeria, the other, a secret agreement with another party, which, it is now apparent, was Reagan. They made a deal with Reagan that the hostages should not be released until after Reagan became president. So, then in return, Reagan would give them arms. We have published documents which show that US arms were shipped, via Israel, in March, about 2 months after Reagan became president.”
Former Iranian President Abolhassan Banisadr
November 4 1979 — Iranian students storm the U.S. Embassy in Tehran
November 4 2020 — On November 4 1979, a group of Iranian college students took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days. The hostages were released just minutes after American President Ronald Reagan was sworn into office. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
RELATED POST: On This Day — Tehran Frees US Hostages After 444 Days (January 20 1981)
RELATED POST: On This Day — Reagan Approves Covert Arms Sales to Iran (January 17, 1986)
RELATED POST: On This Day — Decadence and Downfall: The Shah of Iran’s Ultimate Party (Oct. 12-16 1971)
RELATED POST: On This Day — 1953 Iranian Coup d’État [August 19 – CIA Op TP/AJAX]
RELATED POST: Meet Trump’s new Iran Man: CIA Michael D’Andrea
On January 20 1980, 20 minutes after Reagan concluded his inaugural address, the Islamic Republic of Iran announced the release of the release of 52 Americans being held hostage in Iran since November 4 1979.
“During my research, I spoke to several of the former hostages. I was deeply moved by the response of one in particular. After listening to the evidence, he said simply: ‘I don’t want to believe it. It’s too painful to think about it.’ Painful it is. But the rest of us are obliged to think about it. Hard.”
Gary Sick — Retired Naval Captain who served on Ford’s, Carter’s, and Reagan’s National Security Council
October Surprise conspiracy theory
Allegations that the Reagan administration negotiated a delay in the release of the hostages until after the 1980 presidential election have been numerous.
RELATED POST: Harvard’s Alan Dershowitz Just Confirmed ‘October Surprise Conspiracy Theory’
Gary Sick, principal White House aide for Iran and the Persian Gulf on the Carter administration’s National Security Council, claimed in his book “October Surprise: America’s Hostages in Iran and the Election of Ronald Reagan” that CIA Director William Casey and possibly Vice President George H. W. Bush went to Paris to negotiate such a delay.
In popular culture
The Academy Award–winning movie Argo was based on the taking of hostages by Iranian revolutionaries.
RELATED POST: CIA Master of Disguise Tony Mendez Dies at 78
The movie was criticized for changing the story considerably, including by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter.
Iran Hostage Crisis 1979 (ABC News Report From 11/11/1979)
REFERENCES
Iran hostage crisis — Wikipedia
=
40 Years Ago — Iranian students storm the U.S. Embassy in Tehran (November 4 1979)
On This Day — Iranian students storm the U.S. Embassy in Tehran (November 4 1979)
Intel Today 