26 years ago today, Iran releases hostages - U.S. Politics Online: A Political Discussion Forum

Goddess · #1 (**permalink**) 01-20-2007

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Iran Hostage's Diary / Robert C. Ode

Robert C. Ode was one of the fifty-two American citizens taken hostage by Iranian students in November 1979 at the American embassy in Tehran. They were held for a total of 444 days and finally released, after lengthy negotiations, on January 20, 1981.

Ode (pronounced Odee) was the oldest of the hostages and was in fact retired from diplomatic service. He had taken a special assignment to go to Tehran and expected to be there only a few months when taken with the other embassy staff.

He was allowed to keep a diary after a few months as captive, when conditions under which the hostages lived were loosened, although the conditions were never good. The hostages were separated into small groups that were not allowed to communicate. They were cut off from outside news and contact with the American government, while letters to and from their families were delivered late or not at all. They were blindfolded when taken outside their rooms to take showers or exercise. Moreover, the students were very amateurish jailers, so that essential supplies frequently ran out, meals were often late and improvised and frequently inadequate, and onerous security restrictions far in excess of what was needed were arbitrarily applied. More serious was the problem that medical attention was extremely inadequate, while many of the hostages were senior embassy staff with serious health worries. Above all, there was the psychological pressure of never knowing when they would be released or what the American government was doing to help them.

Ode's journal consists of 115 pages. What is presented here are selected pages illustrating either significant changes or problems in the conditions of his captivity, along with some typical days where the main problems were boredom or food. The full diary is available to the public. For information, contact the Jimmy Carter Library in Atlanta at (404) 865-7100 or e-mail carter.library@nara.gov

Although many of their letters were not delivered to each other, a mainstay of Ode's captivity was the correspondence of his family and friends, especially his wife, Rita Muth Ode, who was under great strain herself but cheered Ode with accounts of the new home she was preparing for his retirement, occasionally receiving advice about the new house from her captive husband.

After months of negotiations, the Iranian government released the hostages in January 1981. The negotiations had been conducted by the Carter administration, while the release was made the first day of the Reagan administration. President Reagan asked Carter to fly to Germany to welcome the released hostages, while Reagan announced their return to Congress and the world.

Iran Hostage's Diary / Robert C. Ode

Any other sources concerning this outrageous episode in Iran-US relations will be greatly appreciated.

Strange how upset people seem to be over the detention of Iranian operatives in Iraq, making the US out to be a bully, when it is the Iranians who have a history of taking hostages for no reason. Of course you can't really compare the illegal hostage taking 26 years ago with the lawful detention of suspected terrorist supporters by US forces in Iraq. But it's amazing how quickly people forget.

If you ask me, this episode, and Iranian support for the Hezbollah attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut, as well as for terrorist attacks against US troops in Iraq are all directly related. It indicates that the Iranian regime has declared war on the US and once they get their hands on a few nukes they'll be able to take the entire Middle-East hostage. They were willing to get into a confrontation with the US without having any nuclear weapons, and hold 52 Americans for 444 days. I wonder what they would do if they had a few nuclear bombs in their possession...

noahath · #2 (**permalink**) 01-20-2007

I've always thought it a little suspicious that they were releases as soon as Reagan was sworn in. Sounds to me like the GOP were negotiating with them, but asked that they not be released until that day as part of a symbolic gesture. Shouldn't the priority have been getting the people released rather than making a nice news story?

Dilettante · #3 (**permalink**) 01-20-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by noahath

I've always thought it a little suspicious that they were releases as soon as Reagan was sworn in. Sounds to me like the GOP were negotiating with them, but asked that they not be released until that day as part of a symbolic gesture. Shouldn't the priority have been getting the people released rather than making a nice news story?

Is there any evidence of that? Surely if there was any hint that a single political party was secretly negotiating with a hostile foreign entity for their own gain it would have been a huge scandal. Not that it isn't possible; I've just never heard anything about it and that strikes me as odd.

I always just figured the hostage takers thought that Reagan (unlike Carter) would just up and declare war and invade the country. They figured it wasn't worth the risk and that they'd already achieved everything there was to achieve.

MattLarson · #4 (**permalink**) 01-20-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by noahath

I've always thought it a little suspicious that they were releases as soon as Reagan was sworn in. Sounds to me like the GOP were negotiating with them, but asked that they not be released until that day as part of a symbolic gesture. Shouldn't the priority have been getting the people released rather than making a nice news story?

I suspect Iran's ruling mullahs knew Reagan wasn't going to sit by and drool on himself like Carter had done for the preceding 400+ days, and told their folks to let the hostages go before things started getting blown up.

Matt

noahath · #5 (**permalink**) 01-20-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dilettante

Is there any evidence of that? Surely if there was any hint that a single political party was secretly negotiating with a hostile foreign entity for their own gain it would have been a huge scandal. Not that it isn't possible; I've just never heard anything about it and that strikes me as odd.

I always just figured the hostage takers thought that Reagan (unlike Carter) would just up and declare war and invade the country. They figured it wasn't worth the risk and that they'd already achieved everything there was to achieve.

I've not seen any direct evidence; it's just something that I've always wondered ... but in my mind it's a tad too coincidental.

ViolaLee · #6 (**permalink**) 01-20-2007

I thought I read that Reagan did negotiate with the Iranian hostage takers and that's why they were released right when he took office.

He did trade arms for hostages 5 years later. That's how the whole Iran contra scandal came about.

Quote:

In 1985, while Iran and Iraq were at war, Iran made a secret request to buy weapons from the United States. McFarlane sought Reagan's approval, in spite of the embargo against selling arms to Iran. McFarlane explained that the sale of arms would not only improve U.S. relations with Iran, but might in turn lead to improved relations with Lebanon, increasing U.S. influence in the troubled Middle East. Reagan was driven by a different obsession. He had become frustrated at his inability to secure the release of the seven American hostages being held by Iranian terrorists in Lebanon. As president, Reagan felt that "he had the duty to bring those Americans home," and he convinced himself that he was not negotiating with terrorists. While shipping arms to Iran violated the embargo, dealing with terrorists violated Reagan's campaign promise never to do so. Reagan had always been admired for his honesty.

The arms-for-hostages proposal divided the administration. Longtime policy adversaries Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and Secretary of State George Shultz opposed the deal, but Reagan, McFarlane and CIA director William Casey supported it. With the backing of the president, the plan progressed. By the time the sales were discovered, more than 1,500 missiles had been shipped to Iran. Three hostages had been released, only to be replaced with three more, in what Secretary of State George Shultz called "a hostage bazaar."

When the Lebanese newspaper "Al-Shiraa" printed an exposé on the clandestine activities in November 1986, Reagan went on television and vehemently denied that any such operation had occurred. He retracted the statement a week later, insisting that the sale of weapons had not been an arms-for-hostages deal. Despite the fact that Reagan defended the actions by virtue of their good intentions, his honesty was doubted. Polls showed that only 14 percent of Americans believed the president when he said he had not traded arms for hostages.

The American Experience | Reagan | People & Events | The Iran-Contra Affair

ViolaLee · #7 (**permalink**) 01-20-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattLarson

I suspect Iran's ruling mullahs knew Reagan wasn't going to sit by and drool on himself like Carter had done for the preceding 400+ days, and told their folks to let the hostages go before things started getting blown up.

Matt

I know you really hate Democrats and Jimmy Carter, but he didn't exactly sit by and do nothing.

Quote:

President Carter applied economic pressure by halting oil imports from Iran and freezing Iranian assets in the United States. At the same time, he began several diplomatic initiatives to free the hostages, all of which proved fruitless.

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0825448.html

You really should stop posting misinformation and bullshit on this board MattLarson.

Quote:

In 1980, the death of the shah in Egypt and the invasion of Iran by Iraq (see Iran-Iraq War) made the Iranians more receptive to resolving the hostage crisis. In the United States, failure to resolve the crisis contributed to Ronald Reagan's defeat of Carter in the presidential election. After the election, with the assistance of Algerian intermediaries, successful negotiations began. On Jan. 20, 1981, the day of President Reagan's inauguration, the United States released almost $8 billion in Iranian assets and the hostages were freed after 444 days in Iranian detention; the agreement gave Iran immunity from lawsuits arising from the incident.

bigTlilODD · #8 (**permalink**) 01-21-2007

Carter did do things. He sent in helicopters. They did a great job.

A friend of mine was the last person out, before the embassy was taken over. Kind of freaky to be the last person on the plane and then hear that your colleagues are hostages.

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