Former Hostage and Last U.S. Military Attaché in Iran Passes Away

Thomas Schaffer, a retired U.S. Air Force captain who was among the 52 American hostages held for 444 days in Iran, passed away on Friday at the age of 85 in Arizona due to heart complications. Mr. Schaffer, who was the last military attaché of the U.S. in Iran, was accused by the captors of leading the 'spy nest' of the U.S. in Iran and thus was under special attention from the captors from the early days of the hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy. During the hostage crisis, he was filmed several times blindfolded in front of television cameras and was threatened with imprisonment and execution. According to the Associated Press, Mr. Schaffer also spent 150 days of his captivity in solitary confinement and endured the first two weeks of his captivity in a cold and damp cell, under continuous interrogation, with nothing but a thin blanket. In a 2004 interview, he stated that he was under immense pressure to 'break down physically and mentally' during his captivity. Mr. Schaffer was among the last group of hostages released on January 20, 1981, and as reported by the Associated Press, just minutes after boarding the plane that was returning the hostages to the U.S., the co-pilot asked him to take his seat in the cockpit. This former U.S. Air Force officer retired from the United States Air Force two years after returning to America. In recent years, Thomas Schaffer made headlines at least twice regarding his comments on Iran. Once in 1998, he recommended that the U.S. should rebuild its relations with Iran. However, 14 years later in 2013, this former hostage described the nuclear agreement with Iran as 'foolish' and stated that he did not know anyone among Iran's leaders whom he could trust.