December 29:The shah of Iran appoints opposition politician Shapour Bakhtiar as
head of a new government.
1979
January 16:The shah of Iran flees the country—he says for a “vacation”—after his
concessions fail to calm widespread disturbances.
February 1:Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Iran from exile in France.
February 14:Leftist forces briefly occupy the U.S. embassy in Tehran. U.S. personnel
are freed by armed supporters of Khomeini.
March 26:In a ceremony at the White House, Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin
and Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat sign the first formal peace treaty between
Israel and an Arab nation.
March 31:Arab League foreign ministers vote for an economic boycott of Egypt and
oust it from the league because of its peace treaty with Israel. In subsequent months,
most Arab countries will break diplomatic relations with Egypt, and the Organiza-
tion of the Islamic Conference will suspend its membership.
April 1:Ayatollah Khomeini proclaims an Islamic Republic in Iran after its endorse-
ment by plebiscite.
May 25:Israel begins withdrawing from the Sinai Peninsula, a process that it will com-
plete in 1982.
July 16:Iraqi president Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr suddenly resigns (citing ill health) and
is replaced by Vice President Saddam Hussein.
August:The new Islamic government of Iran faces its most intense opposition yet as
the result in major riots in Tehran.
September 16:Israel revokes a law barring Israeli citizens and businesses from buying
Arab-owned land in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, an action that will accelerate
the process of Jewish settlement in the territories.
September 24:Israeli planes down four Syrian planes in a confrontation over Lebanon.
October 22:The United States admits the former shah of Iran for medical treatment
in New York, sparking anti-U.S. protests in Iran.
November 4:A group of Iranian students seize the U.S. embassy in Tehran and take
hostage sixty-five Americans there, marking the beginning of a diplomatic crisis that
will last until the last hostages are released in January 1981.
December 24:The Soviet Union launches an invasion of Afghanistan.
December 27:Babrak Karmal is installed as prime minister of Afghanistan.
1980
January 23:President Carter announces in his State of the Union Address that an attempt
by “any outside force” to gain control of the Persian Gulf would be considered an
assault on the vital interests of the United States and would be repelled “by any means
necessary, including military force.” This declaration, known as the Carter Doctrine,
is aimed at the Soviet Union because of its invasion of Afghanistan in December.
January 26:The border between Egypt and Israel is opened.
April 7:The United States severs diplomatic relations with Iran because of the embassy
hostage crisis.
April 8:Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini calls for the ouster of Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein.
668 CHRONOLOGY OF THE MIDDLE EAST, 1914–2007