Iran’s Revolution, America’s Resolve, and 444 Days of Reckoning

A watch can stop ticking without anyone noticing at first; seconds pass, then minutes and hours. Only later does confusion come in; by the time somebody looks down, time has already slipped away, while possible damage quietly follows.

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That cloudy sense of drift defined the early days of the U.S./Iranian hostage crisis.

The Revolution That Opened the Door

Iran’s plunge into chaos began when Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi—the Shah of Iran—was overthrown, as his secular rule and alignment with the West drew deep resentment from clerics. The Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned from exile in February 1979 to reshape Iran into a revolutionary theocracy.

Then-President Jimmy Carter, who was always focused on moral signaling, was deeply uncomfortable with the Shah’s