All articles tagged with #iran hostage crisis
Former President Donald Trump circulated a 1980 interview clip arguing the U.S. should project strength against Iran during the hostage crisis, as the United States resumes strikes on Iran and warns of consequences related to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump says his stance has long been consistent while the White House touts his tough approach to Iran’s nuclear program and security threats.
The CIA has revealed the identity of the second officer involved in the real-life operation that inspired the movie "Argo." Ed Johnson, a linguist, accompanied Tony Mendez on the mission to rescue six American diplomats from Tehran during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. Johnson's role in the operation had previously been classified, but the CIA decided to release his identity in the season finale of its podcast, "The Langley Files." The agency acknowledged the involvement of a second officer, but Johnson's name had remained undisclosed until now.
Hodding Carter III, a Mississippi journalist and civil rights activist who served as the U.S. State Department spokesman during the Iran hostage crisis, has died at the age of 88. Carter later won awards for his televised documentaries and served as the John S. Knight Professor of Public Affairs Journalism at the University of Maryland. He also became president of the John S. Knight and James L. Knight Foundation, based in Miami, Florida. Carter's family had a history of progressive politics, and his father won the Pulitzer Prize for a series of editorials critical of U.S. treatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
Ben Barnes, a former Texas politician, has revealed that his mentor, John Connally Jr., took him on a mission to the Middle East in 1980 to sabotage the re-election campaign of President Jimmy Carter. Connally, a former Texas governor, was determined to prevent Carter from freeing the 52 Americans held captive in Iran before Election Day. Barnes said that Connally met with a host of regional leaders to deliver a blunt message to be passed to Iran: Don’t release the hostages before the election. Reagan will win and give you a better deal.
Former Texas Governor John Connally met with Middle Eastern leaders in 1980 to convince Iran to delay releasing American hostages, as part of an effort to sabotage then-President Jimmy Carter's re-election campaign, according to a report by the New York Times. Carter's aides have long suspected that his campaign was torpedoed by Reagan affiliates who wanted to delay the release of American hostages until after the election. The hostages were held until the day Reagan was inaugurated.
Former Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes claims that a high-ranking member of Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign took him on a secret diplomatic tour of the Middle East in a bid to damage Carter’s re-election campaign by convincing Iran not to release its 52 American hostages until after the election. Barnes’ account has the potential to shed light on the much-debated episode, which has become known as the “October surprise.”