The U.S. & Iran: How We Got Here

1. Set Focus
Pose this essential question: What creates long-lasting conflict between two countries? Can a deep divide ever truly be bridged?

2. List Vocabulary
Share some of the challenging vocabulary words in the article (see below). Encourage students to use context to infer meanings as they read.

• diplomats (p. 16)
• colonial exploitation (p. 17)
• democratically elected (p. 17)
• coup d’état (p. 17)
• zealous (p. 18)
• theocracy (p. 18)

3. Engage
Have students share what they know about U.S.-Iranian relations today. If needed, point out that the U.S. and Iran have tense relations. Then ask students if they know why relations are tense today.

4. Read and Discuss
Ask students to read the Upfront article about the Iranian hostage crisis. Review why the article is a secondary source. (It was written by someone who didn’t personally experience or witness the events.) Then pose these critical-thinking questions:

• Why were relations between the U.S. and Iran originally amicable? (In the 1700s and 1800s, the U.S. viewed Iran, then known as Persia, favorably because it acted as a protector against the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. Iranians looked to the U.S. as a model for a constitutional democracy. After World War I, good relations continued as the U.S. opposed British attempts to control Iran. And in World War II, Iran sided with the U.S. and its allies against Nazi Germany.) 

• How did the U.S. and Iran go from being friends to foes? (Amicable relations broke down in the early 1950s, after Iran’s Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh nationalized Iran’s oil industry. The U.S. and Britain feared their economies would collapse without easy access to Iran’s oil, so they helped overthrow Mosaddegh and installed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi—who was more favorable to Western interests—as Iran’s leader. His corruption and pro-U.S. policies led to the 1979 Iranian Revolution and a new anti-U.S. government.)

• What was the original goal of the hostage-takers? Why did the situation escalate into a 444-day crisis? (The original goal was to occupy the U.S. embassy for a few hours in protest of U.S. interference in Iranian affairs. However, the students prolonged the takeover after being encouraged by Ayatollah Khomeini and after learning of U.S. plans to undermine the new government.) 

• The author says the Iranians realized that they had become “hostage to the hostage-taking.” What does he mean? (He means that continuing to hold the U.S. citizens as hostages trapped Iran in a bad situation. Their assets had been frozen, an oil embargo was placed on them, and their reputation in the world was diminishing. The only way to improve their situation was to free the hostages.)

5. Use the Primary Sources

Project or distribute the PDF A Hostage’s Diary (or assign it in Google Classroom), which features excerpts from the diary Robert Ode kept while held as a hostage in Tehran, Iran, from November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981. Discuss what makes the diary entries a primary source.  (They provide firsthand evidence concerning the topic.) Have students read the excerpts and answer the questions below (which appear on the PDF without answers).

• What physical hardships did Ode face as a hostage? What emotional hardships did he face? (The physical hardships Ode faced included having his hands tied behind his back so tightly with a nylon cord that the circulation was cut off, being forced to sit in certain positions, and given so little opportunity for exercise that his body grew very weak. The emotional hardships he faced included not knowing if he was going to be shot when first captured, facing the reality that his diplomatic immunity card meant nothing to the terrorists, and having no sense of whether he would be freed.)

• What does Ode mean by “for the terrorist’s own protection, of course”? (Ode means that the doctor was not checking the hostages for the purpose of their own well-being. Instead, the doctor was there to determine whether the hostages were healthy enough that the terrorists would not face international criticism for poor treatment of them.)

• After being released, Ode added a reflection to his diary about the day he was freed. What does the announcement on the plane that day symbolize? (The announcement about being out of Iranian airspace symbolizes freedom for the hostages. In contrast to how the doctor’s visit earlier in the month may have been a sign of freedom, the announcement was actual confirmation that their ordeal was over and they were heading home.)

• Based on the Upfront article and the excerpts from Ode’s diary, why do you think the Iranian hostage crisis helped create animosity between Iran and the U.S. that continues today? (Students’ responses will vary, but they should support their ideas with evidence from both texts.)

6. Writing Prompt
Research the concerns Western powers had about Iranian oil being nationalized in 1951. Were the concerns warranted? How might they have been addressed other than by a coup d’état?

7. Quiz
Use the Test Your Knowledge quiz to assess comprehension.

8. Classroom Debate
Will the U.S. and Iran ever have good relations again?

9. Book Clubs
Assign small groups different books related to the Iranian Revolution of 1979 (e.g., the graphic novel Persepolis, the novel Rooftops of Tehran, the memoir Taking Cover). Have each group discuss their book and then share the main themes of their book with the class.