You Decide: Iranian Hostage Crisis
By Mira Cohen

Overview

A crisis demands your attention.  The world watches your actions.  Your decision will affect the course of history and the lives of millions of people.  You are the President of the United States and the decision is yours to make, and yours alone.  What information do you need?  What advice do you seek out?  Your decision is final.  You must review your choices and act.

This "You Decide" lesson presents students with an actual international political dilemma and asks them to explore possible reactions and make decisions.  The Iranian Hostage Crisis You Decide activity works in conjunction with the "Independent Cast of Mind" video.  The lesson is designed for a high school classroom.

Background

The United States had restored the Shah of Iran to his throne in 1953.  Afterwards the CIA had trained the Shah's cruel secret police and provided billions of dollars worth of arms to the Shah's military all the way up to 1978.  Many Iranians had never forgotten this policy.  In 1979, Iranian revolutionaries led by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, an anti-American Moslem cleric, overthrew the Shah.  When he fled to the United States, where President Carter admitted him to receive medical treatment, student mobs stormed the American Embassy in Teheran.  They took hostages and demanded the return of the Shah to stand trial.  While the Iranians eventually released most of the women and African Americans, the remaining fifty-two Americans were held as hostages pending the return of the Shah, and his assets, to Iran.  The revolutionaries claimed the assets were stolen from Iran with the help of the United States.  These fifty-two American prisoners were held for more than a year; they suffered solitary confinement, beatings, and terrifying mock executions.

During the year of captivity, Carter, who had refused to return the Shah to Iran or apologize for past U.S. aid to his regime, was unable to gain the hostages' release through diplomatic means.  He attempted to isolate Iran economically, freezing Iranian assets in the United States and urging other nations to sever trade ties to Iran.  Carter's standing in the opinion polls sank as the crisis continued.  In desperation, he mounted a rescue raid which failed and embarrassed him.  The political reaction led to congressional votes for increased military expenditures and a presidential election campaign issue that helped doomed Carter's reelection efforts.  Carter continued his intense efforts to free the hostages and finally succeeded in late 1980, too late to benefit his presidential election effort.  In fact last minute delays, and perhaps deliberate stalling, prevented the hostages from actually being freed until some minutes after Ronald Reagan was inaugurated.

Objectives

Students will:

  • Describe the Iranian Hostage Crisis.
  • Evaluate possible responses to the Iranian Hostage Crisis.
  • Analyze the outcome to the Iranian Hostage Crisis.
  • Analyze data and information to reach a decision.
  • Organize thoughts and arguments.
  • Develop a possible solution within the context of a group.

Materials

Time Required

The lesson is expected to take two class periods but can be abbreviated to suit the individual teacher's needs.

Initial Motivation

Ask students to think about and write down the most difficult decision they ever had to make.  Ask them to list who, if anyone, they asked to help them make the decision.  Would they have been able to make the decision alone? Did they?  Were they happy with the outcome of the decision or do they wish they had done something differently?

Procedures

The following "You Decide" activity can be used in a number of different ways:

  1. Each student can complete the answer on his/her own.
  2. Students can work in groups to develop a position together. 
  3. Role Play:  Assign students specific roles such as: President, Security Advisor, Secretary of State, family member of hostage, U.S. citizen, member of Congress


1.  Present the students with the following scenario:

The King of Illyria had been the supporter of American foreign policy through the administration of six presidents of the United States.  America needs his country's oil.  At home, he has jailed and killed those who have not supported him for the past thirty years.  He fled to the United States for political asylum and medical treatment for his cancer after he was overthrown.  In turn, his supporters are now being jailed and killed.  The people of Illyria hold America responsible because the CIA helped the King gain power through a coup against their wishes.

A group of 450 students demonstrate against their former leader.  They take over the American Embassy and seize sixty-six Americans as hostage.  They demand the return of the King.  The Illyrian government initially tries to persuade the students to release the Americans.  It supports international law that diplomats can not be held for any reason.  This is very unpopular with the Illyrian people.  As a result, a new government takes power that shares the demands of the students: "Return our former leader or else!"

You are the President of the United States.  What are you going to do about this crisis?

2.  Ask the students to choose one of these five options and explain their choices.

  1. Option 1: Return the leader to the Illyrian students.  This action all but ensures the violent death of the leader.  Explain - Why did you reach this decision? What are your risks in returning the leader?
  2. Option 2: Wait and hope the Illyrians will back down.  Explain - Why did you reach this decision? What are your risks in waiting?
  3. Option 3: Engage in a military strike against the Illyrian students.  Note this is a high -risk situation militarily.  Difficult and dangerous terrain and climate isolate the regime.  No bordering country will let you operate a base.  Explain - Why did you reach this decision? What are your risks in using the military?
  4. Option 4: Implement a secret rescue mission of the hostages.  Explain - Why did you choose this option? What are the risks involved in a covert rescue mission?
  5. Option 5: Engage in a trade embargo against Illyrian.  Explain - Why did you choose this option? What are the risks in starting a trade embargo?

3.  Share and compare student responses.  Ask students to think about what additional information might have helped them reach their decisions.

4.  Provide students with archived newspaper or magazine articles on the Iranian Hostage Crisis, or a brief summary of the crisis and outcome.

5.  Debriefing:

  1. Ask the students to summarize the articles and describe the crisis, decisions made, and outcome.  Did Carter make similar or different decisions from you?  Compare your decisions to Carter's; explain their similarities and differences.
  2. Now ask the students: Would you change your mind knowing what you do now about the outcome?  Is it possible for a President to go back and change his/her mind?  What are the difficulties involved in making such an important decision?  Who would you ask to help you make an important decision?  Would you want to be in the position of making such a difficult decision?  Do you think Jimmy Carter would have won a second term if the outcome from the rescue mission had been successful? Explain.  Would you say the hostage crisis was the defining event of the Carter presidency? Explain.
  3. Watch the President Carter segment of the "Independent Cast of Mind" video in the American Presidents video series.
  4. How did Carter describe the hostage crisis?  What role did the hostage crisis play in Carter's presidency?  Explain.

6.  You may want to expand the lesson to include the following issues:

  1. Should leaders and former leaders be held accountable under international law for violations of human rights? (Pinochet case in the United Kingdom) Why or why not?
  2. Should the United States interfere in the internal affairs of other nations?  What is our responsibility in promoting human rights among friends and foes? (Jimmy Carter's dilemma: should he support a repressive regime that supports America?)
  3. Should the United States give political asylum to former leaders, especially its friends? Why or why not? If political leaders know they will be punished if they give up political power, why should they?

Assessment

Decisions can be graded on a 10 point scale.

9-10  Statement of decision, well-reasoned explanation regarding decisions and risks involved
8  Statement of decision, moderately well-reasoned explanation regarding decision and risks involved
7  Statement of decision, poorly reasoned explanations regarding decisions and risks involved
6  Statement of decision with poorly reasoned explanation of either the decision OR the risks involved
0-5  No statement of decision or unclear statement nor explanations regarding decision choice

Additional Resources

The following web sites may be useful in providing background or additional information to the lesson:

Associated Press: http://www.newstimes.com/archive98/aug0198/ing.html
This is an Associated Press article on the 1998 meeting between former American hostage and an Iranian captor.

The Century Time Capsule: http://boards.go.com.cgi/abccentry/request.dll?LIST&room=iran-hostage This site entails a brief overview of the Hostage Crisis and the outcome

Columbia Encyclopedia: http://www.infopols.com/as/ceo25947.html
It contains a slightly more extensive overview of the crisis.

http://www.yankelovich.com/Public_Opinion/iranian.htm
This site contains a public opinion poll on the crisis taken March, 1988.

 http://afsa.org/inside/yellow-ribbon.html
This is a part of the foreign service website containing thoughts from Bruce Lainger, the Chief of the U.S. Mission in Tehran, Iran, 1979-1981.

Interdisciplinary Connections

In addition to use in government, world history or public policy classes, this is a good case for use in a class teaching mediation skills.  The difficulty faced in mediating this crisis demonstrates some of the conditions necessary for successful mediation.

Mira Cohen teaches Government and United States history at Beverly Hills High School in California