Iran has directly or indirectly targeted Americans in at least 44 documented attacks since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, resulting in more than 1,000 American deaths, according to Mark Levin, former Reagan Justice Department chief of staff and Fox News host.
From Revolution to Hostage Crisis
The transformation of Iran from American ally to adversary began when radical students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran in November 1979, launching a 444-day hostage crisis that held 52 Americans captive. The takeover followed President Jimmy Carter’s decision to allow the cancer-stricken Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi into the United States for medical treatment. One American rescue mission failed, killing several U.S. service members. Iran released the hostages minutes after President Ronald Reagan took office on January 20, 1981, in what many viewed as a final insult to Carter.
Decades of Terror Through Proxies
Beginning July 5, 1982, Hezbollah and Iranian proxies systematically abducted foreigners in Lebanon, including Americans who endured years of psychological and medical torture. CIA Beirut Station Chief William Buckley suffered months of torture by Dr. Aziz al-Abub, a Lebanese Hezbollah psychiatrist. The Islamic fundamentalist dictatorship has sponsored terrorism globally while pursuing nuclear weapons capabilities. Levin described the regime as genocidal warmongers who view America as the “Great Satan.”
Failed Strategy and Lasting Consequences
Carter national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski developed the “Green Belt” strategy, supporting fundamentalist Middle Eastern regimes as a buffer against Soviet expansion. The plan collapsed when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini proved equally hostile to American interests. The United States severed diplomatic ties with Iran in April 1980, a break that continues today. United Against a Nuclear Iran, a nonpartisan organization founded by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and former Ambassador Mark Wallace, maintains comprehensive documentation of Iranian aggression spanning more than four decades of conflict.