April 25:A U.S. military attempt to rescue the embassy hostages in Iran fails and results
in the deaths of eight service personnel in a crash between an airplane and helicopter.
June 22:Israel announces that the offices of the prime minister and other cabinet mem-
bers will be moved from West Jerusalem to East Jerusalem, another step toward
unifying Jerusalem under its control.
July 30:The Knesset passes a law affirming Israel’s claim to Jerusalem. The measure
will prompt protests from Egypt and the UN Security Council (on August 20).
July 27:The former shah of Iran dies of cancer in Cairo.
September 12:The Turkish military ousts the civilian government.
September 17:Iraqi president Saddam Hussein announces the abrogation of the 1975
border agreement with Iran.
September 22:Iraq invades Iran, starting a war that is to last for eight years. Iraq will
make initial military gains into western Iran, but an Iranian counterattack in March
1982 will then drive the Iraqi army back across the border.
1981
January 20:Minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as U.S. president, Iran releases
the remaining fifty-two Americans who had been held hostage in Tehran since
November 1979. Their release results from an agreement, mediated by Algeria,
under which the United States frees $8 billion in Iranian assets that had been frozen.
April 29:Syria installs surface-to-air missiles in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon in
response to an Israeli attack on Syrian helicopters in Lebanon.
May 25:Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates
form the Gulf Cooperation Council to deter threats to the Persian Gulf region.
June 7:Israeli warplanes bomb and destroy a nuclear reactor under construction at
Osirak, near Baghdad. Israel accuses Iraq of intending to use the reactor to build
nuclear weapons. The raid is condemned by most countries, including the United
States, which temporarily suspends the delivery of several warplanes to Israel.
June 30:The Likud Party headed by Prime Minister Menachem Begin wins a narrow
victory in Israeli elections. It will establish a coalition government on August 5.
July 17:Israeli warplanes bomb PLO headquarters in downtown Beirut, killing an esti-
mated 300 people.
July 24:After mediation by the United States and Saudi Arabia, a cease-fire between
Israel and the PLO takes effect along the Israeli-Lebanese border.
August 3:Egypt and Israel agree to the establishment of an international peacekeep-
ing force in the Sinai following the completion of Israel’s withdrawal, scheduled for
April 1982.
August 7:Crown Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia presents an eight-point plan calling for
peace with Israel, provided that it withdraw to borders as they existed before the
June 1967 War. Israel rejects the plan, but President Reagan will express support
for it in October.
October 6:Islamist extremists assassinate Egyptian president Sadat. Vice President
Hosni Mubarak is elected to succeed him on October 13.
November 30:Israel and the United States sign a “strategic memorandum of under-
standing” to counter Soviet threats to the Middle East.
December 14:Israel extends its laws to the Golan Heights, effectively annexing the
strategic plateau, which it had captured in 1967 from Syria.
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