Iranian Hostage Crisis Autographs
The Iranian Hostage Crisis was a result of a group of Iranian students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam’s Line seizing the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979, and taking hostage sixty-six American diplomats and citizens. The students were amongst the Iranian populace that supported the Iranian Islamic Revolution and held very anti-American views out of the perception that the United States supported the Shah Pahlavi, who had been overthrown during the revolution.
Thirteen of the hostages were released November 19-20, 1979, and one was released on July 11, 1980.
Early diplomatic negotiations failed to secure the release of the hostages, and a military operation known as Operation Eagle Claw was attempted in April 1980, but failed and resulted in the deaths of eight U.S. servicemen and one Iranian civilian.
After negotiations mediated by the Algerian government, a set of agreements known as the Algiers Accords were finalized and signed on January 19, 1981, which resolved the crisis. The fifty-two remaining hostages, who had been held for a total of 444 days, were released on January 20, 1981, which coincided with President Ronald Reagan assuming the office of President.
Another aspect to the crisis involved six diplomats that had been able to evade capture during the Embassy take-over and had made their way to the home of a Canadian immigration officer, who was a friend of one of the diplomats. Some of the Americans stayed at the home of the immigration officer, while others stayed at the residence of the Canadian Ambassador. The Canadians harbored the Americans while the CIA developed a rescue plan to help to the Americans escape the country. The rescue, which was done with the cooperation of the Canadian government, involved the Americans being issued Canadian passports, and then two CIA agents joined the diplomats. The group then conducted a ruse on the Iranians whereby they portrayed themselves as a film crew that had been in the country scouting an appropriate location to film a science-fiction movie named Argo, and they went to the airport and successfully boarded a flight to Zurich and escaped Iran on January 27, 1980.
Thirteen of the hostages were released November 19-20, 1979, and one was released on July 11, 1980.
Early diplomatic negotiations failed to secure the release of the hostages, and a military operation known as Operation Eagle Claw was attempted in April 1980, but failed and resulted in the deaths of eight U.S. servicemen and one Iranian civilian.
After negotiations mediated by the Algerian government, a set of agreements known as the Algiers Accords were finalized and signed on January 19, 1981, which resolved the crisis. The fifty-two remaining hostages, who had been held for a total of 444 days, were released on January 20, 1981, which coincided with President Ronald Reagan assuming the office of President.
Another aspect to the crisis involved six diplomats that had been able to evade capture during the Embassy take-over and had made their way to the home of a Canadian immigration officer, who was a friend of one of the diplomats. Some of the Americans stayed at the home of the immigration officer, while others stayed at the residence of the Canadian Ambassador. The Canadians harbored the Americans while the CIA developed a rescue plan to help to the Americans escape the country. The rescue, which was done with the cooperation of the Canadian government, involved the Americans being issued Canadian passports, and then two CIA agents joined the diplomats. The group then conducted a ruse on the Iranians whereby they portrayed themselves as a film crew that had been in the country scouting an appropriate location to film a science-fiction movie named Argo, and they went to the airport and successfully boarded a flight to Zurich and escaped Iran on January 27, 1980.
I have two items in my collection. One is a card autographed by Tony Mendez, who was the CIA expert on exfiltration, and one of the two agents who went to Iran as part of the rescue operation. The other item is a card which was signed by Paul Lewis, who at the time was a Sergeant in the Marine Corps assigned as a guard at the Embassy, and was one of the individuals that remained a hostage for the full 444 days.
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