Iran Hostage Crisis

William Casey (Almost) Certainly Delayed the Release of Iran Hostages to Help Reagan

by Jonathan Alter, Gary Sick, Kai Bird and Stuart Eizenstat

It has long been suspected that Reagan's campaign chief William Casey convinced Iran that they could get a better deal by releasing American hostages after the election of Ronald Reagan. Available documents, recent interviews, and the vast circumstantial evidence present a damning case, argues a team of policy vets and journalistic experts on the Carter years. 

I Helped John Connally Try to Delay the Release of the Iran Hostages

The New York Times recently reported the claim by Ben Barnes that he and the former Texas governor toured the middle east in 1980 to try to delay the release of hostages to help Ronald Reagan win election. 

H.W. Brands on Ben Barnes's "Revelation" about the Iran Hostage Crisis

"In effect, Connally and Casey were telling the Iranians not to do something the Iranians had no intention of doing."

In 1980, a 34-year-old Donald Trump said the US should invade Iran in response to the hostage crisis

According to historians Brendan Simms and Charlie Laderman, as cited by Brookings, this was Trump's first known comment on US foreign policy. 

How the PLO served U.S. interests during the Iranian hostage crisis

by Jørgen Jensehaugen

Open communication and negotiation can produce concrete benefits.

The Case of Xenophobic Hysteria Almost Nobody Remembers

by Matthew Shannon

It’s what happened to Iranians in the US during the Hostage Crisis. Now’s the time to remember it.