Iran: Tabas Desert a reminder of humiliating US defeat

On April 25, 1980, the United States launched a covert military operation, known as Operation Eagle Claw, in an attempt to airlift the US embassy staff held in the Iranian capital, Tehran. As a symbol of the failure of US plots against the Islamic Republic, Iran commemorates the event every year in Tabas where government officials, religious leaders and people gather.

The plan was to be based on the use of elements from four branches of the US defense forces: Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force. The concept was based on an operation whereby helicopters and C-130 aircraft, following different routes, would rendezvous on a salt flat (code-named Desert One) 200 miles (320 km) southeast of Tehran. Here the helicopters would refuel from the C-130s and pick up the combat troops who had flown in on the C-130 transports. The helicopters would then transport the troops to a mountain location (Desert Two) closer to Tehran from which the actual rescue raid would be launched into the city the following night. The operation was further to be supported by an in-country CIA team. On completion of the raid, hostages were to be shepherded to a captured Tehran airport from which they were to be flown to Egypt.

Desert One was in South Khorasan Province, in the Dasht-e Lut desert near Tabas, while Desert Two was located 50 miles (80 km) short of Tehran.

The operation, one of Delta Force's first, encountered many obstacles and failures and was subsequently aborted.

Eight helicopters were sent to the first staging area called Desert One, but only five arrived in operational condition. One had encountered hydraulic problems; another was caught in a sand storm, and the third showed signs of a cracked rotor blade.

During the operational planning, it was decided that the mission would be aborted if fewer than six helicopters remained operational upon arrival at the Desert One site, despite only four being absolutely necessary. The field commanders advised US President Carter to abort the mission, which he did.

As the US forces prepared to withdraw from Desert One, one of the remaining helicopters crashed into a transport aircraft that contained both servicemen and jet fuel. The resulting fire destroyed both aircraft and killed eight servicemen.

The founder of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in a speech after the incident, condemned Jimmy Carter’s order for military intervention in Iran and said the mission had been stopped by an act of God (angels of God) who had foiled the US mission.

“Who crushed Mr. Carter's helicopters? We did? The sands did! They were God's agents. Wind is God's agent ... These sands are agents of God. They can try again.”

Carter blamed his loss in the 1980 US presidential election mainly on his failure to secure the release of the hostages. The American hostages were released on 20 January 1981; minutes after Ronald Reagan had taken the oath of office after winning the election against Carter.

Many believe Tabas incident played a major role in Carter’s defeat in the 1980 presidential election in the US.

43 years ago on this day, the US forces conceded a humiliating defeat in Tabas that later affected the country's internal politics.

Iran marks the 43rd anniversary of a failed US military operation in the central Tabas Desert that was launched under the direct order of the US President Jimmy Carter in an attempt to release former US embassy staff held in Tehran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. 

On November 03, the founder of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khomeini delivered a decisive speech and called on Iranian people, students, and the clergies to thwart any US and Zionist regime’s conspiracies against the newly established Islamic Republic of Iran and also to oblige the US government to hand over Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who had gone to New York for medical treatment.

US interference in Iran's internal affairs, its refusal to hand over the fugitive Shah as well as the meeting of some interim government officials with Zbigniew Brzezinski, the National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter (November 01, 1978) flared up Iranian's rage and made them take some retaliatory measures.

On November 04, 1979, on the first anniversary of the massacre of 56 Iranian pupils by Shah’s troops, and the day on which Imam Khomeini was exiled to Turkey (November 04 1964) by the oppressive Pahlavi regime, almost 400 Iranian Muslim students known as Muslim Students of Imam Khomeini Line stormed the US embassy.

During the takeover of the embassy, documents were discovered that proved some of the American embassy staff had been working with US intelligence agencies; meaning they were spies. Some 52 Americans were held in Tehran for 444 days, but later released unharmed.

 

 

Iran celebrates 44th anniversary of Islamic Revolution

Millions of citizens in Iran took to the streets across the country on Saturday to celebrate the 44th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that toppled the despotic Pahlavi regime.

The rallies in the capital Tehran began at 9:30 a.m. local time (06:00 GMT), with marchers from various social strata and different parts of the city marching toward the iconic Azadi (Freedom) Square.

People waved photos of the late founder of the Islamic Revolution Imam Khomeini, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and legendary General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in a 2020 US terrorist attack near the Iraqi capital Baghdad, as well as the martyrs of the Revolution.

The flight of colored balloons and iridescent papers from the Azadi Tower, the performance of professional parachutists of the Armed Forces and the mass recital of Iran’s national anthem were among the celebratory events held in the Azadi Square, Press TV reported.

On the eve of the 44th anniversary, fireworks displays were performed in Tehran and other cities, as people chanted Allahu Akbar (God is the Great) in an expression of support for the Islamic Revolution. 

The rallies were held in 1,400 Iranian cities and 38,000 villages.

The mass rallies on the 22nd of Bahman in the solar calendar, which corresponds with February 11, are held each year with tremendous patriotic fervor in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Iranian nation overthrew the despotic regime of Pahlavi, which was fully supported by the United States in the winter of 1979. The struggle against the shah regime reached full fruition on February 11, 1979.

By December 1978, millions of Iranians had taken to the streets in protest against the policies of the shah – Mohammad Reza Pahlavi – on a regular basis.

Imam Khomeini returned to Iran from exile on February 01, 1979. He was received by millions of people weeks after the departure of the shah in mid-January 1979.

The collapse of the Pahlavi regime became certain on February 11 when the military renounced its loyalty to the shah and joined the Revolution.

Delivering a speech at the Azadi Square, President Ebrahim Raisi lauded the 22nd of Bahman as the day of the triumph of “truth over falsity,” the day of the victory of “the oppressed over the arrogant,” and the realization of the “miracle of the century.”

Raisi said the epic day put an end to tyranny and dependence and marked the beginning of independence, freedom and the Islamic Republic, adding that the day brought about the crystallization of the will of the great nation of Iran.

Stressing that both the establishment and the continuation of the Pahlavi regime was against the nation’s will and accompanied with a coup d'état, the Iranian president said, “They committed crimes and treason during their rule, and they were unconcerned about Iranian people’s great capacities, and only cared for the pleasure of the global hegemony and the United States."

“Pahlavi's despotic rule only brought backwardness to this nation and country,” Raisi added, “They came to power against the principles of the Constitution and with a coup.”