The Iranian Hostage Crisis By Ben Afflek

The Iranian Hostage Crisis began on November 4th 1979 when a group of Iranian students and militants stormed the US embassy in Tehran, taking 90 people hostage including 66 Americans. 6 American’s however were able to escape. The film Argo produced in 2012 by Ben Affleck follows the story of these 6 American diplomats who sought refuge in the Canadian Embassy and used a Hollywood cover film, Argo, to flee Iran. Argo was a success, winning 3 Oscar’s and 2 Golden Globe’s, however from many Iranian’s perspectives, the film was a multitude of inaccuracies. It over-exaggerated the Iranian motives, excluded and distorted important Iranian historical events and portrayed the heroism of the CIA and the US government through neglecting major intelligence

The Iranian contention that the film is a propaganda exercise is borne out in the opening scenes. The opening scene is a historical recount that explains the main aspects of Iranian history that influenced demonstrators to seize the US embassy in 1979. The historical recount includes the fact that Former Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi arrived in America for medical treatment, which sparked anger among the Iranian population. According to many Iranians he began “an era of torture and fear” and attempted to “Westernize” Iran, proving to be “puppet of the west” and bringing hatred to America . Iranian’s wanted the Shah to be returned to Iran and tried for his crimes. Whilst this historical information at the beginning of the film should position the

The 1953 coup d’état in Iran, was a joint CIA and US government operation to overthrow the Iranian prime minister, whom had nationalised the oil industry in order to control and benefit from the country’s own oil. They reappointed Mohammed Reza Shah, a puppet of the west, so the US could once again have absolute control and power over Iran. In return the Shah as unfeeling ruler, established extremes in Iranian society, including suppressing other political parties and severely oppressing his own people, in order to maintain his position and meet the demands of the American government. Whilst this aspect is portrayed in the opening historical setting of the film, it is not continuously reinforced, and the reasoning behind the coup d’état was not given. Thus it distorts the Iranian history and the CIA and US government’s immersion in influencing Iranian provocations. Another important aspect that emphasises the bias American perspective, was excluding Mohammed Reza Shah’s attempt to commence the White Revolution. The ‘White’ Revolution was a package of reforms to move Iran into the modern era , which received much criticism from conservative and devout Islamic Iranians. As the US government and the CIA instated the Shah into Iranian politics and ameliorated his