“In this revolution, the Great Satan is America that gathers around other devils blatantly… If we see the US, this great Satan, raising chain and bringing the devils together around him, it is because the US grip over our country and our resources curtailed.”
Ayatollah Khomeini (November 5 1979)
November 5 2020 — In a speech delivered on November 5 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini used the term “Great Satan” to describe the United States. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
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Ayatollah Khomeini accused the United States of imperialism and the sponsoring of corruption throughout the world.
The speech occurred one day after the onset of the Iran hostage crisis.
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Playing the Anniversary Game
On November 4 2019, the Trump administration slapped new sanctions on nine officials who are among the core supporters of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
Among those sanctioned include Khamenei’s appointees in the Office of the Supreme Leader, the Expediency Council, the Armed Forces General Staff and the Judiciary, according to the State Department.
“The designation seeks to block funds from flowing to a shadow network of Khamenei’s military and foreign affairs advisors who have for decades oppressed the Iranian people, supported terrorism, and advanced destabilizing policies around the world,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
The Trump administration has withdrawn the US from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and has re-imposed most of the sanctions on Iran that had been suspended under the deal.
The most important sanctions — oil embargo — went into effect on November 5 2018.
I believe that the date (November 4 2019) was chosen because of its highly charged symbolic value.
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On November 4 2019, the Trump administration also announced a major increase in reward money for information on the whereabouts of Robert Levinson.
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The State Department’s Rewards for Justice Program and the FBI are now offering $25 million for information leading to the location, recovery and return of Robert Levinson.
4th November 1979: The Iran hostage crisis begins
The students seized 66 hostages, of whom 52 were held for 444 days before being released shortly after Ronald Reagan concluded his inaugural address as the new President of the USA.
The origins of the crisis lay in the declining relationship between the USA and Iran under the rule of Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi.
The American CIA along with MI6 from Britain had orchestrated a coup to install the Shah as ruler of Iran in order to protect their oil interests in the region.
Although this was successful, many Iranians opposed the Shah’s repressive rule and found a leader in Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini under whose guidance the Shah was overthrown in July 1979.
Three months later, on the 22nd October, the Shah was granted entry to the US to access treatment for lymphoma. Although President Carter eventually granted entry on humanitarian grounds, the political repercussions were huge.
Khomeini stirred up anti-American feeling by referring to the USA as the ‘Great Satan’ and hinting that the CIA was plotting another coup to return the Shah to power.
Shortly after the Shah landed in New York on the 4th November, a student demonstration outside the gates of the American Embassy in Tehran stormed the building.
66 hostages were taken, of which only 14 were released before the end of the crisis.
The remaining hostages were not freed until the 21st January 1981.
REFERENCES
Great Satan — Wikipedia
Trump re-imposes Iran sanctions: Now what? — BBC News
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On This Day — Ayatollah Khomeini declares US “The Great Satan” (November 5 1979)
40 Years Ago — Ayatollah Khomeini declares US “The Great Satan” (November 5 1979)
On This Day — Ayatollah Khomeini declares US “The Great Satan” (November 5 1979) [Playing the Anniversary Game]
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