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Iran releases American Hostages
On Jan. 20, 1981, Iran released 52 Americans who had been held hostage for 444 days. The hostages were placed on a plane in Tehran right after Reegan administration came to power.The hostages were taken captive in the American Embassy in Tehran when a group of students and militants took over in support of the Iranian Revolution. -
Period: to
Iran 1981-1988
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Tanker War begins
The first phase of the tanker war was relatively obscure. As early as May 1981, Baghdad had unilaterally declared a war zone and had officially threatened all ships to or from Iranian ports in the northern zone of the Persian Gulf to stay away. -
New President Elected
Hojatalislam Ali Hussein Khamenei elected president of Iran -
Baghdad announces evacuation of Iran
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Iran retained control of Majnoon Islands
Iran retained control of Iraq’s oil-rich Majnoon Islands -
Tanker War escalates
The Tanker War started properly in 1984 when Iraq attacked Iranian tankers and the vital oil terminal at Kharg island. Iran struck back by attacking tankers carrying Iraqi oil from Kuwait and then any tanker of the Gulf states supporting Iraq. -
Iran attacks Kuwiati oil tanker
Iran attacked a Kuwaiti oil tanker near Bahrain on May 13 and then a Saudi tanker in Saudi waters five days later, making it clear that if Iraq continued to interfere with Iran's shipping, no Persian Gulf state would be safe. Most observers considered that Iraqi attacks, however, outnumbered Iranian assaults by three to one. -
War of the Cities
Iraq’s bombing of Ahvaz and Bushahr starts another War of the Cities, with Iran firing missiles at Baghdad and shelling Iraqi border towns -
Beginning of Iran-Contra affair
The Iran-Contra affair began with the Reagan administration's illegal sale of weapons to Iran. These sales hoped to result in the release of American hostages held by terrorist allies of Iran in Lebanon. -
End of Iran-Contra Affair
In order to end this affair, the Tower Commission, appointed by Reagan, was asked to determine the involvement of many in the government. After a detailed investigation, fourteen people were charged with this crime, however Bush issued pardons for six of them. In the end, the image of Reagan and the government suffered however it quickly rebounded and Reagan left office in 1989 with the highest approval rating of any president since Franklin Roosevelt. -
End of War of Cities
War of cities ended by Iraq -
Iranian airliner shot down by USS Vincennes
On July 3, America's "USS Vincennes" was patrolling the Strait of Hormuz. Next to it, there was a confrontation between Iranian guboats and a Pakistani merchant vessel. A missile was fired towards the "USS Vincennes". During this event, the "USS Vincennes" detected an aircraft moving in its direction. When the plane did not respond to any warning signals, it was shot down. As it turned out, the plan was just a Iranian commercial jet that had 290 people on board. All of them died in the crash. -
End of Iran- Iraq War
Against a background of increasing support for Iraq, a collapsing economy, and declining enthusiam for the war, Iran agreed to a UN ceasefire resolution, and the war ended on August 20, 1988. Despite the loss in both human and financial resources, the war had helped consolidate the Khomeini regime.
