Word: iranian
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...they joined an estimated 500 other militants in seizing and occupying the U.S. embassy. Now, while their comrades downtown were preparing to celebrate the first anniversary of the siege, the two young men were reporting to Khomeini to elicit his "guidance" about the vote by the Majlis, or Iranian parliament, setting conditions for the release of the hostages...
...then, couched in the familiar rhetoric of revolution, came the declaration that many in the U.S. had been waiting and hoping for: the militants would turn the hostages over to the Iranian government. The students said they wanted to march off to the battlefront and help defend Iran against "America's puppet," Iraq. Said the militants' spokesman: "If the great leader of the revolution grants us permission, we will from now on delegate the responsibility for the safeguarding [of the hostages] to the government and will engage in the most important current issue of the revolution, defense...
...followed by the ritual on the mosque balcony, made possible the first step in the hostages' long, still treacherous journey home. Iran demanded a quick U.S. reply to the conditions set by the Majlis. Administration experts, however, were not about to speed up their painstaking consideration of the Iranian demands. Secretary of State Edmund Muskie warned that "the process . . . will require time, patience and diplomacy...
...Tehran on Tuesday, the Iranian government's acceptance of responsibility for the captives was underscored by Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Raja'i when he addressed a huge anti-American rally at the embassy. Tens of thousands of marchers shouted, "Death to American imperialism!" Raja'i delivered a fiery speech from a podium set up inside the embassy compound, proclaiming the hostage progress a victory for Iran. As viewed from Washington, it was encouraging that a government official was welcomed onto the militants' heavily guarded turf. Ever since the seizure of the embassy, U.S. officials monitoring...
Those conditions had originally been laid down by Khomeini on Sept. 12. They were: 1) a pledge by the U.S. not to interfere in Iranian affairs; 2) the return of the fortune of the late Shah and his close relatives; 3) the unfreezing of Iranian assets held by U.S. banks; and 4) the cancellation of U.S. legal and financial claims against Iran. The Carter Administration had already agreed in principle to try to meet those demands, but the Majlis added a hitch: the captives would be released in stages as each condition...