How the Cold War affected the Middle East.

Confrontations in the Middle East, Religious, and Secular Values Clash in Iran.
Shah Reza Pahlavi (King of Iran) embraced Western oil companies. At the age of fifteen Shah Reza joined the Cossack Brigade in 1893-94. Iranian nationalists overthrow Shah Reza Pahlavi. The British seize western oil companies. U.S. restores shah to power because they were affraid of the soviets coming to take over ( Reza Shah 2009).

The United States Supports Secular Rule.

1.Shah Reza Pahlavi westernizes Iran with what country's support?
United States
2.Who was Ayatollah Khomeini?
An Iranian Shiite leader
3.What happened in 1978 Iran? Who fled?
The Iranian revolution began. Mahammad Reza Shah

The United States supported Iran by westernizing their country.By 1950, Iran's capital was filled with skyscrapers,foreign banks,and modern factories. This brought income and made Iran more efficient. However Iranians still lived in poverty. Therefore the Shah attempted to weaken the power of the Iran's conservative Muslim leaders. The leader of this was Ayatollah Rulloha Khomeini and they opposed western influence. Due to his tape recorded messages, Iranians revolted everywhere causing the Shah to flee (Beck 552-553).

Confrontations in the Middle East Khomeini's Anti-U.S. Policies

66 Americans were captured and held hostage

1. The Iranian Hostage Crisis
The Iranian Hostage crisis was a hostage situation where muslim students in Iran captured 52 members of the U.S. Embassy in Iran in 1979-1981. For 444 days they were held captive to protest U.S. interference in their rebellion. At the time (1978) the Shah of Iran was deposed; his name was Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. He then fled the country ending up in the U.S.. In October of 1797 the Iranian Prime Minister demanded the Shah be returned to Iran but was told that the Shah needed medical treatment that could only be provided in the U.S. Due to the previous attack (The embassy was attacked previously in February of 1979 and was occupied for a short time (Brittanica2009).) and the news of the Shah's "medical condition" the Prime minister of Iran's provisional government, Mehdi Bazargan, promised the safety of the people in the America embassy in Iran. On October 22nd, the Shah arrived in America and there was little protest in Iran. But in early November the embassy was occupied and mobbed by around 3,000 Iranian muslim students. They took 63 people from the embassy for hostage and an additional 3 were taken later on (Britannica2009). Soon after this negotiations were being made but Iran would not give up the hostages. Through late Nov. 1979 to Jul. 1980 14 hostages, mainly women, were handed over to the U.S. on the grounds that they were probably not terrorists. This left the total number of 52 people. While all of this was happening there was a massive conflict over who would receive the power in Iran. This was between the muslims who were led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the Islamic people in Iran. Ayatollah refused to order the release of the captives which led the Prime minister of Iran to resign. Khomeini then demanded that the Shah be sent back to Iran for trial in exchange for the hostages. The U.S. agreed to put together a committee that would investigate the Shah but only if the hostages were given back. The U.S. then began a long protest against Iran. They boycotted Iranian oil, stopped Iranian money in the U.S., and even sued Iran (Britannica2009). Another attempt was made to save the hostages this time by the military called Operation Eagle Claw. This failed miserably because of malfunctioning helicopters and a crash involving a helicopter and a plane as they were retreating. By May 1980 the U.S. convinced its allies to enforce an embargo against iran which would prevent trade with Iran (Britannica2009). Thankfully multiple factors finally led to negotiations and the return of the hostage: Iraq invaded Iran which ruined their economy, Iran gained a new government, and they began to visit the U.N. to negotiate. Finally On Jan. 20, 1981 the hostages were returned after 444 days in captivity in exchange for their funds and resumed trade.

2.Muslim radicals take control in Iran, increasing tensions with ?
Because of the radicals taking control in Iran many countries were very upset but most of all was its neighbor Iraq. Iran and Iraq had been enemies for a long time and due to many religious and ideological differences they were very angry that religious radicals were now leading the government (Jones142). This eventually provoked Iraq into invading Iran in the 8 Years War as Saddam Hussein tried to rid Iran of its muslim radical leaders, especially, Ayatollah Khomeini (Jones143). This takeover also angered other countries such as the U.S., who lost an ally in the Middle East and the Soviet Union who were disturbed by the seizure of the government by radicals.
8 years war

3.Iran and Iraq fight 8 year war; U.S. aids both sides and the Soviets help
The Soviets aided Iraq by supplying them with weapons, ammo, and other tools for war because they opposed Iran's leadership. The U.S. supplied both sides with intelligence but only helped Iran once the hostages from the Iranian Hostage Crisis were returned (Britannica2009). Many disturbing weapons were used during the 8 Years War which lasted from 1980-1988 (Britannica2009). Some weapons that Iraq introduced upon Iran were Cyanide and Mustard Gas (Jones143). The effects of the 8 Years War were terrible and long lasting; by 1985 it was estimated that 70,000 Iraqi's had died and by 1986 it was guessed that Iran had around 200 billion dollars in damage and loss in their country(Jones143).

The Superpowers Face off in Afghanistan.

Following WWI Afghanistan maintained its independence from both the U.S. and and Soviet Union for a several years. But in the late 1970s a Muslim revolt threatened to topple Afghanistan's communist regime. Because of this revolt the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. The Soviets expected to prop up the Afghan communists and quickly withdraw but instead they found themselves stuck. And supplied with American weapons, the Afghan rebels fought on. The U.S. supplied the rebels because they saw the Soviet Union's invasion as a threat to Middle Eastern oil supplies. But in the 1980s a new Soviet president, Mikhail Gorbachhev realized the wars devastating costs and quickly withdrew all his troops by 1989. (Beck 553)

~ The Soviet Union invade Afghanistan, help Communist government against rebels.
~ What did the U.S. stop shipping to the USSR? What did the Soviets do in 1989? The U.S. stopped shipping grain to the USSR and the Soviets withdrew all their troops by 1989.
~ Muslim rebels fight guerrilla war against Soviets with help from the U.S.

Works cited

Beck, Roger B., et al.
Modern World History. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2005.

Bolohm, Craig.
The Cold War: An Uneasy Peace 1945-1980. Farmington Hills, MI: Lucent Books, 2003.

Bolohm, Craig.

"Iran hostage crisis."
Encyclopædia Britannica__. 2009. 08 May 2009 Encyclopædia Britannica Online.

Jones, C.B. The Cold War. Chicago, IL: Contemporary Books, 2004.

Moin, B. "Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah." InfoPlease. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. 2000. 5 May 2009 <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/AO827559.html>.

Pike, John. "Cold War." Global Security.Org. 12 Dec. 2008. 6 May 2009 <http://www.global security.org/military/ops/cold_war.html>.

"Reza Shah Pahlavi." Iran Chambers Society. 5 May 2009 <http://www.iranchambers.com/history/reza_shah/reza_shah.php>.

Quiz Yourself:__

Who invaded Afghanistan and helped the Communist government against the rebels?

a. the U.S.

b. Soviet Union

c. Iran

d. Russia

How did Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini influence the Iranian's to revolt? a. used tape recorded messages

b. used propaganda c. used secret messengers to spread rumors d. used spy's and fear to influence the people

What western companies did Shah Reza embrace? a. factories b. coal mines c. oil companies d. agriculture advances

How many people were originally captured to be held hostage in the Iranian Hostage Crisis? a. 52 b. 34 c. 124 d. 66