Salar Abdoh - Effects of Iranian Uprisings

Effects of Iranian Uprisings

Abdoh, being fourteen and homeless at the time of the Iranian Revolution and Iranian Hostage Crisis, felt the need to hide his identity as an Iranian as much as possible; “The Hostage Crisis was in full swing and there was much anti-Iranian sentiment in America. For a while I completely hid my Iranian identity” (Abdoh, question 3).At the time of the Iranian Revolution, Abdoh, his father, and 2 brothers were forced to move to the states because Abdoh's father had been targeted by fundamentalists (Faber&Faber, p. 1). The Iranian Hostage Crisis was a way of getting back at the west (mainly America) for helping the Shah in his attempt to westernize; the Shah was hospitalized in the US, and the Iranians took this as a threat (Wikipedia, p. 5-6). A group of Muslim college students planned to occupy the American embassy in Iran, but this turned into a full-fledged hostage crisis for 444 days (New World Encyclopedia, p. 1). Unlike in ancient times when the Muslims first took over Persia, the Iranians were determined to keep their ways and not let America impose new ideas; Khomeini said this regarding the idea of westernization and modernization “Neither East nor West- Islamic Republic” (p. 14). Khomeini did not know about the Iranian hostage crisis at first, but approved of it upon finding out and called it the “The Second Revolution” and the cleansing of America from Iran (p. 11). After almost a year and a half, the hostages were released to America upon the condition that America would no longer nose into the affairs of Iran (p. 24).