Thirty-Five Years After the U.S. Embassy Occupation: The Future of Tehran-Washington Relations

35 years ago, on a fall Sunday, on November 4, 1979, a group of revolutionary students who called themselves followers of Imam Khomeini climbed the wall of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took dozens of its employees hostage. An event that, according to the students themselves, was not supposed to last more than two or three days, but as the hostage crisis extended beyond what the students had anticipated, its political, social, and economic impacts on Iran have persisted even to this day. The hostage crisis, which occurred a few months after the Islamic Revolution, marked the end of diplomatic relations between Iran and the United States. According to PBS, the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis in Tehran was the only event that garnered the most attention in global media and press from World War II until that time. On the thirty-fifth anniversary of the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis, Radio Farda examines the causes and roots of this event, what transpired during the 444 days of captivity, and its international and domestic impacts on Iran and the region. In a preview, we discussed what the hostage-takers think 35 years after the U.S. Embassy occupation. Iran-U.S. relations were severed for years after the hostage crisis. In 1997, Mohammad Khatami, the then-President of Iran, proposed the idea of a dialogue among civilizations. The United Nations also declared 2001 as the year of dialogue among civilizations. Many of Khatami's domestic critics accused him of proposing the dialogue idea to establish relations with the U.S. In October 2013, Khatami responded to this claim in an interview with two monthly magazines, stating that this perspective trivializes the issue and that the goal of the dialogue was not to negotiate with the U.S. In 2002, George W. Bush, the then-President of the U.S., labeled Iran, along with Iraq and North Korea, as part of an axis of evil. Bush's statements were met with strong reactions from Iranian officials. Following these remarks, the global community's sensitivity towards Iran's nuclear program increased. The People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran, an opposition group to the Islamic Republic, revealed in 2002 that Iran had expanded its uranium enrichment facilities in Natanz and its heavy water facility in Arak. The U.S. accused Iran of seeking to produce nuclear weapons, a charge that Iran has consistently denied. During Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency from 2005 to 2009, Iran faced severe sanctions from the U.S. and the European Union. In 2012, these sanctions intensified and targeted Iran's financial sector. Under Ahmadinejad's presidency, which began in 2005, relations between Iran and the West, especially the U.S., deteriorated. In 2010, Ahmadinejad stated at the UN General Assembly that most people believe the U.S. government was behind the September 11 terrorist attacks. Stephen Kinzer, a journalist and political analyst who traveled to Iran after Ahmadinejad's second term, commented on his impact on Iranian politics, saying: "I believe that the years of Ahmadinejad's presidency and the violence he used to suppress the Green Movement have been dampened by a group of politicians in Iran, and certainly the result was that political elites could not experience again what happened in 2009 after the presidential election. Election results must be free and fair, and people should be able to vote for whom they want and should choose someone they believe will bring change. I think that is what people wanted after Ahmadinejad. Now whether Hassan Rouhani fulfills these demands and hopes more effectively than what former President Mohammad Khatami did remains to be seen." During Hassan Rouhani's presidency, Iranian news agencies reported in September 2013, citing Marzieh Afkham, that after Rouhani's victory in the presidential election that year, Barack Obama, the President of the U.S., sent a letter congratulating him. According to Afkham, Rouhani also responded to his letter. After Rouhani took office, for the first time in 34 years, the presidents of Iran and the U.S. spoke on the phone. Rouhani had traveled to New York to attend the UN General Assembly and, on October 5, 2013, while on his way to the airport, he had a phone conversation with Barack Obama. Rouhani announced this historic conversation with Obama on his Twitter account. After this phone call, the U.S. President stated that both sides had communicated their decision to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis. Stephen Kinzer, a journalist, noted: "In Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps opposes reaching a nuclear agreement for economic reasons because they fear that lifting sanctions would be detrimental to them. In fact, U.S. sanctions against Iran have greatly benefited the Revolutionary Guards, and it is understandable why they oppose reconciliation with the U.S. In the U.S., there are also groups opposed to Iran, most of whom are pro-Israel lobbyists." The U.S. State Department has stated that since the Islamic Revolution, it has repeatedly expressed its concerns about human rights, support for terrorism, and Iran's nuclear program. The U.S. and the international community have imposed comprehensive sanctions against Iran to force the country to negotiate about its nuclear program. Stephen Kinzer believes that both the U.S. and Iran must face their domestic opponents in the nuclear negotiations and adds: "In Iran, the Revolutionary Guards oppose reaching a nuclear agreement for economic reasons because they fear that lifting sanctions would be detrimental to them. In fact, U.S. sanctions against Iran have greatly benefited the Revolutionary Guards, and it is understandable why they oppose reconciliation with the U.S. In the U.S., there are also groups opposed to Iran, most of whom are pro-Israel lobbyists, but there is also a general idea among the public that negotiations with Iran are not good and that Iran has traditionally been untrustworthy and is a fundamental enemy of the U.S. Therefore, in both capitals, powerful groups are trying to undermine the reconciliation process." The nuclear agreement deadline is only three weeks away for reaching a comprehensive agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group. Hassan Rouhani's policy regarding Iran's nuclear issue is to try to remove Iran's case from the Security Council and continue Iran's peaceful nuclear activities. Mohammad Javad Zarif met with John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, and Catherine Ashton, the coordinator of the P5+1 group, in Muscat, Oman, last Sunday and Monday. On the third day, negotiations took place in various formats, including meetings of deputy foreign ministers of the P5+1 countries with Ashton and Zarif to keep them informed about the trilateral negotiations. Gary Sick, a national security advisor during Jimmy Carter's administration at the time of the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis in Tehran, points out the existence of hardliners in both Iran and the U.S., saying: "Although the U.S. and Iran agree on many issues, there are many ambiguities regarding the terms of the negotiations. A good agreement depends on what happens by November 24. Iran and the U.S. are trying to continue nuclear negotiations to reach a comprehensive agreement. My personal opinion is that this time is critical. We know what needs to be done, and it is very difficult because both sides must compromise. Iran must do things that are not popular among domestic hardliners. Whatever the U.S. government does regarding Iran's nuclear issue will be opposed by many people, for example, in the U.S. Congress. Therefore, both sides are negotiating now, and this is a difficult task. I hope they reach an agreement because it is the first step toward achieving a brotherly agreement between the two countries. If the two countries want to overcome the hostage crisis and enter a new era of relations, they must have normal relations. I don't think Iran and the U.S. will become close allies in the near future, but they can learn to work together. The first step is to find a solution to the nuclear crisis." Gary Sick: "Now Western officials email Iranian officials. Negotiators have each other's personal emails and are in contact. Mr. Zarif, the Iranian Foreign Minister, has met with the U.S. Secretary of State. These meetings have become completely routine. Both sides are talking to each other. I don't think they will return to the past when communication was impossible for Americans and Iranians. That time is over." Gary Sick says direct talks between Iran and the U.S. have begun and adds: "The United States and Iran now talk to each other regularly. One of those involved in the nuclear negotiations with Iran said a few months ago that if a problem arises in the negotiations and it is necessary for the parties to talk to each other, they email their counterparts. This means that Western officials email Iranian officials. Negotiators have each other's personal emails and are in contact. Mr. Zarif, the Iranian Foreign Minister, who previously attended the UN General Assembly in New York, met with many senior U.S. officials. He also met with the U.S. Secretary of State. These meetings have become completely routine. Both sides are talking to each other. I don't think they will return to the days when communication was impossible for Americans and Iranians. That time is over." Introduction of Iran's Ambassador to the UN In April 2014, with the end of Hamid Khazaei's mission as Iran's representative to the UN, Tehran introduced Hamid Abutalebi as his replacement. Abutalebi has been accused by the U.S. of having a role in the 1979 U.S. Embassy hostage crisis. Abutalebi has denied this accusation, stating that he only collaborated with the students as a translator in some instances. The U.S. refused to issue a visa for Abutalebi, and the U.S. Senate passed a bill prohibiting his entry into the U.S., which was signed by the President of the United States. John Limbert, a former hostage: "They did not introduce themselves to us. It was not like a hotel where they welcomed us. When Abutalebi says he was a translator, he was still part of the hostage-takers and collaborated with them." John Limbert, the second secretary of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, says he does not know Hamid Abutalebi and states: "They did not introduce themselves to us. It was not like a hotel where they welcomed us. When he says he was a translator, he was still part of the hostage-takers and collaborated with them. It is clear why they do not give him a visa. When they go out every year on November 4 and protest, pretending that the hostage crisis was the right thing to do, it is clear that they have not yet accepted that they made a mistake. If they say their actions were wrong, that would be another matter, but as long as they haven't said anything, how can we let this person into the U.S.? I am surprised that Rouhani's government wanted to send such a person as Iran's representative to the U.S. I ask myself what they were thinking when they did this or perhaps they did not think at all." The Future of Iran-U.S. Relations Hassan Rouhani, after being elected president, stated about relations with the U.S. that the relationship between Iran and the U.S. is a complex and difficult issue, not simple; there is an old wound that needs to be healed, and Iran will not seek to escalate tensions. Rouhani also stated that Iran's current relationship with the U.S. is at the level of enmity and hostility, and Iran must try to lower this level through planning and prudence, at least to bring relations down from enmity to tension. Stephen Kinzer, a New York Times journalist, speculates about the possibility of Iran and the U.S. having embassies in each other's countries in the future, saying: "I definitely foresee the reopening of embassies in Iran and the U.S. This will definitely happen one day. Let us hope that it happens sooner rather than later. Having diplomatic representatives in each other's countries is important and a significant step toward establishing relations. However, I believe the first step should be working on the nuclear agreement. I agree with Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, who says we must first take care of the first child and then attend to the other children. The first child is the nuclear agreement. Once the two countries reach that stage, if they can, other possibilities, including normalizing diplomatic relations, will arise." Gary Sick, a national security advisor during Jimmy Carter's administration at the time of the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis in Tehran, is not very optimistic about the future of Tehran-Washington relations and believes that the future will be fraught with difficulties. Gary Sick, a member of the National Security Council during Carter's administration: "Hardliners in both the U.S. and Iran essentially speak the same language, have the same demands and interests, and speak similarly. They want the two countries to remain distant, and enmity to continue. This is an issue that will not be easily resolved. The only way is for relations to be established gradually over time." Sick states: "Well, I think Iran and the U.S. have some common interests. I think they can talk and cooperate on these common interests. However, there are also specific areas where they disagree significantly."