ABSTRACT
The Iranian revolution, the Iran-Iraq war, and the Persian Gulf crisis and war will most likely be mentioned in the same breath. The revolution created a threat in that the majority of the population in Iraq was Shiite and, therefore, possibly susceptible to Iranian démarches to overthrow a regime that was neither appropriately religious nor adequately representative. Violence in Iran had become so commonplace that “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson seemed to always have some sort of a joke in his opening monologue referring to the bombs frequently going off in Teheran, reflecting the political infighting among the coalition partners that had overthrown the Shah. The Carter administration had seriously contemplated military action to either directly free the hostages or pressure the Iranian government to force their release soon after the actual hostage-taking in November. In Iran, the hostage ordeal helped solidify the power of Ayatollah Khomeini and his radical Islamist faction.
