Word: tehran
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...writes Jimmy Carter, "the beginning of the most difficult period of my life." He was referring to the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran by Iranian militants who took scores of Americans hostage. The date was Nov. 4, 1979, and for the next 444 days, "I listened to every proposal"for freeing the hostages, "no matter how preposterous, including dropping an atomic bomb on Tehran...
...blueprints of our embassy buildings in Tehran, of course, and we had talked to the black and female hostages re-leased before Christmas, although they were unable to tell us much about the others. Much more important, we received information from someone (who cannot be identified) who was thoroughly familiar with the compound, knew where every hostage was located, how many and what kind of guards were there at different times and the daily schedule of the hostages and their captors. This was the first time we knew the precise location of the Americans...
...agents, who moved freely in and out of Tehran under the guise of business...
Meanwhile, urban guerrillas keep up their attacks. In Tehran alone, about 70 Islamic Guards a week are being killed by the Mujahedin. In one elaborate attack last week, the guerrillas staged a noisy motorcade for a pair of supposed newly weds. When Islamic Guards told the "wedding party" that it was against Khomeini's rules to celebrate in the streets, the bride protested loudly. As the argument grew heated and more guards gathered, one of the drivers honked his horn as a signal. The wedding guests suddenly pulled out submachine guns and blasted away. The toll: at least...
...listened to every proposal, no matter how preposterous, including dropping an atomic bomb on Tehran," writes Jimmy Carter of his most frustrating experience as President: trying to free the American hostages from Iran. In the concluding TIME excerpt from Keeping Faith, Carter tells of the fallen Shah's fateful visit to the U.S., the seizure of the Americans on a day "I will never forget," the tragic failure of the rescue mission in the desert and the 444-day ordeal that ended in freedom for the hostages. Carter also tells of those achievements for which he expects historians to give...