Abstract
Iran has always been a major concern in United States foreign policy. With almost seventy million inhabitants, three times the population of Iraq, the former Persia is a key actor in the Middle East. The diplomatic relations between America and Iran have fluctuated according to regime changes. The United States backed the anti-communist Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who ruled Iran from 1941 to 1979. They saw him as a "bulwark against the expansion of Soviet influence in the Persian Gulf" (Katzman). When the Shah government collapsed in February 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared an Islamic Republic of Iran. The tensions between the new anti-West leader and the United States worsened dramatically with the Iran hostage crisis, from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981.
