November 4, 1979 student demonstrators assembled in the streets outside the United States embassy in Tehran. The protests would eventually turn violent as the students stormed the walls and entered the complex. The marines stationed inside were able to sound an alarm, which put the embassy into lock¬down. After several hours the Americans in the embassy were unable to last any longer and they were captured. The hostages were told that they would be released, however, only when the Shah was forced back to Iran in order to stand trial for the crimes he had committed.
President Carter’s diplomacy was not succeeding, the crisis was lasting much longer than anyone thought and the former president even considered the prospect of using force. The government was unwilling to return the Shah to the Iranian people and was determined to regain control and restart the money flow once more. To do
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Ronald Reagan would win the election of 1980 and one of his major campaign platforms was the promise to end the Iranian Hostage Crisis. The Ayatollah’s supporters were then elected to the Iranian parliament. This meant that there was no reason to hold the hostages, having the Ayatollah in power with his supports in parliament meant that they effectively controlled all aspects of Iranian society. Then Iraq and Iran would become involved in a war. Iranian assets which had been frozen in the United States, were now needed more than ever if they wished to have access to their foreign currencies, without which they risked losing the war and then their country. Finally, the Shah died in July 1980 while living in Egypt. Now what the students of Iran truly wanted, for the Shah stand trial for his heinous crimes against humanity, was impossible. These events show the true power of economic goals and how they can turn a non-economic event into a truly dramatic struggle for national and international