A report on Iran–Iraq War, Iran hostage crisis and Ali Khamenei

Top-left to bottom-right: Iranian child soldier on the frontlines Iranian soldier in a trench wearing a gas mask to guard against Iraqi chemical attacks Port quarter view of the USS Stark listing to port after being mistakenly struck by an Iraqi warplane Pro-Iraq MEK forces killed during Iran's Operation Mersad Iraqi prisoners of war after the recapture of Khorramshahr by Iranian forces ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun being used by the Iranian Army
Iranian students crowd the U.S. Embassy in Tehran (November 4, 1979)
Khamenei in 2022
Meeting of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Houari Boumédiène and Saddam Hussein (left to right) during the Algiers Agreement in 1975.
Iran attempted to use the occupation to provide leverage in its demand for the return of the shah to stand trial in Iran
A teenage Khamenei
Ruhollah Khomeini rose to power after the Iranian Revolution.
Anticipating the takeover of the embassy, the Americans tried to destroy classified documents in a furnace. The furnace malfunctioned and the staff was forced to use cheap paper shredders. Skilled carpet weavers were later employed to reconstruct the documents.
Khamenei in a protest during Iranian Revolution in Mashhad
Location of Khuzestan Province in Iran which Iraq planned to annex
Two American hostages during the siege of the U.S. Embassy.
Ali Khamenei in military uniform during Iran–Iraq War
Iranian President Abolhassan Banisadr, who was also commander-in-chief, on a Jeep-mounted 106mm recoilless anti-tank gun. Banisadr was impeached in June 1981.
Barry Rosen, the embassy's press attaché, was among the hostages. The man on the right holding the briefcase is alleged by some former hostages to be future President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, although he, Iran's government, and the CIA deny this.
Khamenei in the hospital after the assassination attempt
The Shatt al-Arab on the Iran–Iraq border
An anti-Iranian protest in Washington, D.C., in 1979. The front of the sign reads "Deport all Iranians" and "Get the hell out of my country", and the back reads "Release all Americans now".
Ali Khamenei has shaken hands with his left hand since the unsuccessful assassination.
Destroyed Iranian C-47 Skytrain
A headline in an Islamic Republican newspaper on November 5, 1979, read "Revolutionary occupation of U.S. embassy".
Khamenei as Tehran's Friday Prayer Imam in 1979
Iranian F-14A Tomcats equipped with AIM-54A, AIM-7 and AIM-9 missiles.
A group photograph of the fifty-two hostages in a Wiesbaden hospital where they spent a few days after their release.
Khamenei reading Will of Ruhollah Khomeini in Assembly of Experts
Resistance of the outnumbered and outgunned Iranians in Khorramshahr slowed the Iraqis for a month.
A heckler in Washington, D.C., leans across a police line toward a demonstration of Iranians in August 1980.
Khamenei in 2018
Iranian president Abulhassan Banisadr on the battlefront
Americans expressed gratitude for Canadian efforts to rescue American diplomats during the hostage crisis.
Khamenei in 2020
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Massoud Rajavi, the leader of MEK and the National Resistance Council of Iran (NCRI) in 1988.
Vice President George H. W. Bush and other VIPs wait to welcome the hostages home.
Khamenei at the Great Conference of Basij members at Azadi Stadium, October 2018
The surprise attack on H-3 airbase is considered to be one of the most sophisticated air operations of the war.
The hostages disembark Freedom One, an Air Force Boeing C-137 Stratoliner aircraft, upon their return.
Khamenei during a meeting with Qaris
Iranian soldier holding an IV bag during the Iran–Iraq War
A protest in Tehran on November 4, 2015, against the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.
International Holy Quran Competition's participants meeting with Khamenei, June 2013
Iranian Northrop F-5 aircraft during Iran-Iraq war
The November 2015 protest in Tehran.
Participants of 31st International Islamic Unity Conference meeting with Khamenei, December 2017
Iraqi T-62 tank wreckage in Khuzestan Province, Iran
Simulation of the first day of the event, 3 November 2016, Tehran
Khamenei and former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Iraqi soldiers surrendering after the Liberation of Khorramshahr
Iran hostage crisis memorial
Khamenei with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ali Larijani and Sadeq Larijani in 2011
Saddam Hussein in 1982
Operation Eagle Claw remnant in the former embassy
Khamenei at a public speech, 2018
An admonitory declaration issued from the Iraqi government in order to warn Iranian troops in the Iran–Iraq War. The statement says: "Hey Iranians! No one has been downtrodden in the country where Ali ibn Abi Ṭālib, Husayn ibn Ali and Abbas ibn Ali are buried. Iraq has undoubtedly been an honorable country. All refugees are precious. Anyone who wants to live in exile can choose Iraq freely. We, the Sons of Iraq, have been ambushing foreign aggressors. The enemies who plan to assault Iraq will be disfavoured by God in this world and the hereafter. Be careful of attacking Iraq and Ali ibn Abi Ṭālib! If you surrender, you might be in peace."
The former US embassy, known as the "espionage den," "den of espionage", and "nest of spies" by the Iranians after the crisis.
Khamenei casting his vote in 2013 presidential election
95,000 Iranian child soldiers were made casualties during the Iran–Iraq War, mostly between the ages of 16 and 17, with a few younger.
Khamenei in meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, 23 November 2015
Furthest ground gains
Khamenei meeting with his counterpart, China's paramount leader Xi Jinping, 23 January 2016
Iranian POWs in 1983 near Tikrit, Iraq
Khamenei with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, 11 February 2017
Iranian child soldier
Sixth International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada, Tehran, 2017
Iraqi POW who was shot by Iranian troops after they conquered the Iraqi Majnoon oil field in October 1984
Pro-government Syrians with portraits of Assad, Ayatollah Khomeini and Khamenei, April 2018
Iranian troops fire 152 mm D-20 howitzer
Khamenei speaking to Iranian Air Force personnel, 6 February 2016
Battle of the Marshes Iran front 1983 rest after exchange of fire 152 mm D-20 H
Khamenei meeting with Hajj authorities, 2018
Operation Earnest Will: Tanker convoy No. 12 under US Navy escort (21 October 1987)
Iranian women with portraits of Khamenei, 2014
A map indicating the attacks on civilian areas of Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait targeted during the "War of the Cities".
Khamenei in 2022
Iraqi commanders discussing strategy on the battlefront (1986)
Khamenei meeting with his counterpart, China's paramount leader Xi Jinping, 23 January 2016
Iranian President Ali Khamenei on the battlefront during the Iran–Iraq War
Operation Dawn 8 during which Iran captured the Faw Peninsula.
Iranian soldier killed during the Iran–Iraq War with Rouhollah Khomeini's photo on his uniform
The People's Mujahedin of Iran, supported by Saddam, started a ten-day operation after both the Iranian and Iraqi governments accepted UN Resolution 598. Casualty estimates range from 2,000 to 10,000.
Adnan Khairallah, Iraqi Defense Minister, meeting with Iraqi soldiers during the war
IRGC navy speedboats using swarm tactics
An Iranian soldier wearing a gas mask during the Iran–Iraq War.
The Iranian frigate IS Sahand burns after being hit by 20 U.S. air launched missiles and bombs, killing a third of the crew, April 1988
Iranian soldiers captured during Iraq's 1988 offensives
USS Vincennes in 1987 a year before it shot down Iran Air Flight 655
MEK Soldiers killed in Operation Mersad in 1988
Al-Shaheed Monument in Baghdad was erected to commemorate the fallen Iraqi soldiers during the war.
Iranian Martyr Cemetery in Isfahan
Iranian Martyrs Museum in Tehran
An Iranian soldier's funeral in Mashhad, 2013
An Iraqi Mil Mi-24 on display at the military museum of Sa'dabad Palace in Iran
President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush work in the Oval Office of the White House, 20 July 1984.
USS Stark (FFG-31) listing following two hits by Exocet missiles.
Victims of the 1987 chemical attack on Sardasht, West Azerbaijan, Iran
Damage to a mosque in Khoramshahr, Iran, the city that was invaded by Iraq in September 1980

Khamenei was one of Iran's leaders during the Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s, and developed close ties with the now powerful Revolutionary Guards which he controls, and whose commanders are elected and dismissed by him.

- Ali Khamenei

In September 1980, Iraq invaded Iran, beginning the Iran–Iraq War.

- Iran hostage crisis

They were also active after the failed U.S. attempt to rescue its hostages, Operation Eagle Claw.

- Iran–Iraq War

When the authorities encouraged them to chant "death to America," the protesters instead chanted "death to the dictator" (referring to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) and other anti-government slogans.

- Iran hostage crisis

The United States and Iran have had no formal diplomatic relations since the Iran hostage crisis of 1980 when US embassy was taken over and US diplomats were taken prisoner.

- Ali Khamenei

One faction, comprising Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, President Ali Khamenei, Army Chief of Staff General Ali Sayad Shirazi as well as Major General Qasem-Ali Zahirnejad, wanted to accept the ceasefire, as most of Iranian soil had been recaptured.

- Iran–Iraq War
Top-left to bottom-right: Iranian child soldier on the frontlines Iranian soldier in a trench wearing a gas mask to guard against Iraqi chemical attacks Port quarter view of the USS Stark listing to port after being mistakenly struck by an Iraqi warplane Pro-Iraq MEK forces killed during Iran's Operation Mersad Iraqi prisoners of war after the recapture of Khorramshahr by Iranian forces ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun being used by the Iranian Army

4 related topics with Alpha

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Ruhollah Khomeini

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Ruhollah Khomeini's birthplace at Khomeyn
Khomeini as a student with his friends (second from right)
Khomeini in 1938
Khomeini's speech against the Shah in Qom, 1964
Khomeini denouncing the Shah on 'Ashura (3 June 1963)
Khomeini in prayer
Khomeini in exile at Bursa, Turkey without clerical dress
The Entrance of Khomeini's House in Najaf, Iraq
Khomeini at Najaf
Khomeini in the 1970s
Ayatollah Khomeini in front of his house at Neauphle-le-Chateau in a media conference
Khomeini in 1978
Arrival of Khomeini on 1 February 1979. When asked about his feelings of returning from exile in the plane, he replied Hich; "None."
Khomeini and the interim prime minister, Mehdi Bazargan
Khomeini with people
Carpet given to Khotan mosque by Ayatollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini with Ahmad Khomeini and Mohammad-Ali Rajai
Mourning men in residence of Khomeini around his seat area, Jamaran, 4 June 1989.
Khomeini and his successor, Ali Khamenei
Khomeini's State Portrait
Murals of Khomeini and Ali Khamenei, Shah Mosque in Isfahan
Khomeini in the 1980s
Khomeini and a child.

Most of his period in power was taken up by the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988.

He was succeeded by Ali Khamenei on 4 June 1989.

Khomeini was known for his support of the hostage takers during the Iran hostage crisis, his fatwa calling for the murder of British Indian novelist Salman Rushdie, and for referring to the United States as the "Great Satan" and the Soviet Union as the "Lesser Satan".

Mass demonstrations at College Bridge, Tehran

Iranian Revolution

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Series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and the replacement of his government with an Islamic republic under the rule of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a leader of one of the factions in the revolt.

Series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and the replacement of his government with an Islamic republic under the rule of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a leader of one of the factions in the revolt.

Mass demonstrations at College Bridge, Tehran
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi official coronation photo 1967
Ayatollah Sayyid Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (revolutionary leader).
People of Tehran in the demonstrations of 5 June 1963 with pictures of Ruhollah Khomeini in their hands
Two armed militants outside the Embassy of the United States, Tehran where diplomats are held hostage. Behind of them is a banner written: "Long live anti-imperialism and democratic forces". Photograph by Abbas, dated 1979, from the Iran Diary series
The Shah of Iran (left) meeting with members of the U.S. government: Alfred Atherton, William Sullivan, Cyrus Vance, Jimmy Carter, and Zbigniew Brzezinski, 1977
Pro-Shah demonstration organized by the Resurgence Party in Tabriz, April 1978
Demonstration of 8 September 1978. The placard reads, "We want an Islamic government, led by Imam Khomeini".
Demonstration of "Black Friday" (8 September 1978)
Victims of Black Friday
Ayatollah Khomeini in Neauphle-le-Château surrounded by journalists
Mohammad Beheshti in the Tehran Ashura demonstration, 11 December 1978
"The Shah is Gone" —headline of Iranian newspaper Ettela'at, 16 January 1979, when the last monarch of Iran left the country.
A protester giving flowers to an army officer
Shah and his wife, Shahbanu Farah leaving Iran on 16 January 1979
Cartoon depicting Shapour Bakhtiar and Mosaddegh on 22 January 1978 issue of Ettela'at, during the revolution
Iranian prime minister Mehdi Bazargan was an advocate of democracy and civil rights. He also opposed the cultural revolution and US embassy takeover.
Iranian armed rebels during the revolution
Iranian women protesting
Khomeini told questioners that "the religious dignitaries do not want to rule."
A revolutionary firing squad in 1979
Executed Generals of Imperial Army: Reza Naji, Mehdi Rahimi, and Manouchehr Khosrodad
Kazem Shariatmadari and Khomeini
Banisadr in 1980
People celebrating anniversary of the revolution in Mashhad in 2014.
An injured revolutionary during protests against Pahlavi regime.
Protests in summer 1978.
Revolutionary victims.
Current Iranian leader, Ali Khamenei in a Revolutionary protest in Mashhad.
Shah visiting Bakhtiar cabinet before his exit from Iran.
People celebrating Shah's exit from the country.
Removal of Shah's statue by the people in University of Tehran.
Khomeini at Mehrabad Airport.
People accompanying Khomeini from Mehrabad to Behesht Zahra.
Khomeini in Behesht Zahra.
Khomeini before a speech at Alavi school.

At the same time, events that made up both the crisis and its resolution were the Iran hostage crisis, the invasion of Iran by Saddam Hussein's Iraq, and the presidency of Abolhassan Banisadr.

To honor the 40th anniversary of revolution around 50,000 prisoners were forgiven by order Ali Khamenei to receive "Islamic clemency".

Iran

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Country in Western Asia.

Country in Western Asia.

Inscription of Ardeshir Babakan (r. 224–242) in Naqsh-e Rostam: "This is the figure of Mazdaworshiper, the lord Ardashir, Shahanshah of Iran..."
An Ashrafi Coin of Nader Shah (r. 1736–1747), reverse:"Coined on gold the word of kingdom in the world, Nader of Greater Iran and the world-conquerer king."
A cave painting in Doushe cave, Lorestan, from the 8th millennium BC
A bas-relief at Persepolis, depicting the united Medes and Persians
Tomb of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Empire, in Pasargadae
The Achaemenid Empire (550 BC–330 BC) around the time of Darius the Great and Xerxes I
The Parthian Empire (247 BC–224 AD) in 94 BC at its greatest extent, during the reign of Mithridates II
Tomb of Hafez, a medieval Persian poet whose works are regarded as a pinnacle in Persian literature and have left a considerable mark on later Western writers, most notably Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Henry David Thoreau, and Emerson
Venetian portrait, kept at the Uffizi, of Ismail I, the founder of the Safavid Empire
A portrait of AbbasI, the powerful, pragmatic Safavid ruler who reinforced Iran's military, political, and economic power
Statue of Nader Shah, the first Afsharid ruler of Iran, at his Tomb
A map showing the 19th-century northwestern borders of Iran, comprising modern-day eastern Georgia, Dagestan, Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan, before being ceded to the neighboring Russian Empire by the Russo-Iranian wars
The first national Iranian Parliament was established in 1906 during the Persian Constitutional Revolution
Reza Shah, the first Pahlavi king of Iran, in military uniform
The Allied "Big Three" at the 1943 Tehran Conference.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the Imperial Family during the coronation ceremony of the Shah of Iran in 1967.
Ruhollah Khomeini's return to Iran on 1February 1979
An Iranian soldier wearing a gas mask on the front-line during the Iran–Iraq War
The Green Movement's Silent Demonstration during the 2009–10 Iranian election protests
The 2017–18 Iranian protests were initiated on 31 December 2017 and continued for months.
Mount Damavand, Iran's highest point, is located in Amol, Mazenderan.
Persian leopard, listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
Iran's most populated cities (2010)
Iran's syncretic political system combines elements of an Islamic theocracy with vetted democracy.
Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, meeting with his counterpart, China's paramount leader Xi Jinping on 23 January 2016. Iran and China are strategic allies.
Ali Khamenei voting in the 2017 presidential election
Iranian former President Hassan Rouhani meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Iran and Russia are strategic allies.
The Islamic Consultative Assembly, also known as the Iranian Parliament
Protest against U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel. Tehran, 11 December 2017.
Sophisticated indigenous long range missile system Bavar-373 paraded in Tehran.
Iran's provinces by their contribution to national GDP (2014)
Historical GDP per capita development
A proportional representation of Iran exports, 2019
More than a million tourists visit Kish Island each year.
Iran holds 10% of the world's proven oil reserves and 15% of its gas. It is OPEC's second largest exporter and the world's 7th largest oil producer.
Literacy rate of Iran's population plus 15, 1975–2015, according to UNESCO Institute of Statistics
Sharif University of Technology is one of Iran's most prestigious higher education institutions.
The production line for AryoSeven at the Iranian biopharmaceutical company of AryoGen
Simorgh launch, Iranian Space Agency
Iran's population growth (1880–2016)
Iran's provinces by population density (2013)
Iron Age gold cup from Marlik, kept at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art
Kamal-ol-Molk's Mirror Hall, often considered a starting point in Iranian modern art
Tomb of the 10th-century Persian poet Ferdowsi, author of Šāhnāme, the classical Persian composition of the Iranian national epics, in Tus
Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism, depicted on Raphael's The School of Athens
Karna, an ancient Iranian musical instrument from the 6th century BC, kept at the Persepolis Museum
The Roudaki Hall, constructed between 1957 and 1967 in Tehran
Reproduction of the 3rd-millennium BC goblet from southeastern Iran, possibly the world's oldest example of animation.
Abbas Kiarostami (1940–2016), an acclaimed Iranian film director
Behrouz Vossoughi, a well-known Iranian actor who has appeared in more than 90 films
Haft-Seen, a customary of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year
Chelow kabab (rice and kebab), one of Iran's national dishes
Skiers at the Dizin Ski Resort
The Azadi Stadium in Tehran is West Asia's largest football stadium.
Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, meeting with his counterpart, China's paramount leader Xi Jinping on 23 January 2016. Iran and China are strategic allies.
An Iranian tea tray served near Garden of Mausoleum of Omar Khayyam in Nishapur

The government of Iran is an Islamic theocracy that includes elements of a presidential democracy, with the ultimate authority vested in an autocratic "Supreme Leader"; a position held by Ali Khamenei since Khomeini's death in 1989.

On 4 November 1979, after the United States refusal for the extradition of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to the new government, a group of Muslim students seized the United States Embassy and took the embassy with 52 personnel and citizens hostage.

On 22 September 1980, the Iraqi army invaded the western Iranian province of Khuzestan, initiating the Iran–Iraq War.

People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran

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Iranian political-militant organization.

Iranian political-militant organization.

MEK leader Massoud Rajavi with Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
MEK forces killed during Operation Mersad (Operation Forough Javidan)
John Bolton speaking at a MEK event
MEK demonstrators carrying Lion and Sun flags and those of 'National Liberation Army of Iran'
Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich, James T. Conway, Bill Richardson and other American politicians at the MEK event in 2018
Bomb debris after assassination of President Mohammad-Ali Rajaei and Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar in 1981
Letter in Persian requesting that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union lend any amount of money (up to US$300,000,000) to the Mujahedin Organization and requesting that the supporters of the Mujahedin Organization be allowed to cross the Soviet-Iranian border and be granted a temporary asylum; memorandum to the TsK KPSS from Olfat
The Nahj al-Balagha, a 10th century collection of the sayings of Ali ibn Abi Talib was the main source of inspiration for the MEK in its early years.
Entrance Gate of Ashraf City when populated by PMOI exilees
Stamp in memory of martyrs of the 7th Tir bombing
Mohammad-Reza Sa'adati, executed on charges of assisting the MEK

It has also been suggested that the group supported the U.S. embassy takeover in Tehran in 1979.

Near the end of the Iran–Iraq War, a military force of 7,000 members of the MEK, armed and equipped by Saddam's Iraq and calling itself the National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA) was founded.

The MEK also failed to assassinate some key figures, including Iran's current leader Ali Khameni.