2. The Hostages Were Released Right After Reagan Became President
In December 1980, the hostages were forced to tell television cameras that they had been treated well during their incarceration in Iran. The hostages were told they would finally be returning home; in turn, they were fed and treated well before being examined by international doctors. Finally, in mid-January, they were driven to the Tehran airport, where they were met with jeers from a crowd of protestors who insisted that the spies should continue to be held. They boarded a plane that would first head to Germany before transiting to the United States, but the airplane did not take off right away.
On January 20, 1981, Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as the fortieth president of the United States. At his inauguration stood a bleary-eyed Jimmy Carter, who had spent the last 50 hours of his presidency, without any sleep, trying to get the hostages brought back to the United States. Within five minutes of Reagan taking his oath of office and becoming president, the plane with the hostages departed from the Tehran airport. The delay was Khomeini’s final slap in the face to the president that had allowed the shah to enter the United States. The hostages were on their way to Germany and would soon be home after 14 months in captivity.
When the plane landed in the United States, families of the hostages were lined up on the tarmac for an emotional reunion. The former hostages were unaware of how much support and solidarity had been forged in America surrounding their captivity since they were cut off from all communication for over a year. In an emotional address to the country, former President Carter announced that all of them were alive and well, though shaken from their experiences.