This Day in History: 15 November 2020
15 November 1977
43 years ago, today, President Carter hosted the shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and his wife, Shahbanou Farrah, to Washington. Over the next two days, Carter and Pahlavi discussed improving relations between the two countries. The official discussions centred on peace prospects for the Middle East as well as ways to combat the energy crisis that had hit the West in the early 1970s. At the time, Carter hoped to enlist Iran's help in reconvening peace talks between Israel and Egypt. He also wanted Iran's help in supporting nuclear non-proliferation talks with the Soviet Union.
The visit ended on a positive note, and the next month, Carter and his wife travelled to Tehran. Two years later, the two leaders' political fates would be further entwined when Islamic fundamentalists overthrew the shah and took Americans hostage in Tehran. In October 1979, the exiled shah came to the United States for cancer treatment. Carter's hospitality toward the shah enraged a group of radical Iranian students, who stormed the US embassy in Tehran in November, taking 66 Americans hostage. This crisis lasted 444 days and Carter's inability to secure their release led to his replacement by Ronald Reagan in 1980.
Want to find out more about the shah's disposition? Click here for more information, or here for more about the hostage crisis.
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