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Description area
Dates of existence
History
The microfiche collection focuses on US foreign policy towards Iran and events in Iran, 20 Jan 1977-29 Jan 1980. This period coincides with the beginning of the relationship between Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, and the US administration under President James Earl 'Jimmy' Carter, Jr, through to the failure of American policy efforts towards the revolutionary Iranian government, which became symbolised by the seizing of the US Embassy in Teheran, Iran, in which 66 Americans were taken hostage by followers of Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, 4 Nov 1979. As a result of the embassy seizure, President Carter asked Cyrus Roberts Vance, US Secretary of State, to co-ordinate a secret inter-agency appraisal of US involvement in Iran since 1945. The resulting report, known as the 'White Paper', and its 12,000 pages of supporting documentation, provided the White House with an overview of US relations with an allied Iran, 1945-1978. The microfiche collection ends 29 Jan 1980, the date on which the 'White Paper' was transmitted to Zbigniew Brzezinski, US National Security Adviser, by the US State Department's Policy Planning Staff.This document collection originated from investigations done by newspaper reporter Scott Armstrong for his five-part series entitled 'The Fall of the Shah of Iran', published in the Washington Post, 25-30 Oct 1980. This newspaper series first revealed the existence of the so-called 'White Paper'. With the revelation of its existence, then researchers filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for the 'White Paper' itself and for the background documents used in its preparation. In addition, the Iranians who seized the US Embassy in Teheran captured material therein including official foreign policy memoranda and cables relating to declining relations between the US and Iran. These documents were subsequently published in Teheran, where they became known collectively as 'The Documents From the Den of Espionage', smuggled into the US, and eventually brought to the attention of Armstrong. Armstrong's subsequent five-part series of articles in the Washington Post entitled 'Iran Documents Give Rare Glimpse of a CIA Enterprise', beginning 31 Jan 1982, revealed to the public for the first time the nature of US foreign policy making in Iran 1977-1980. Documents in this microfiche collection are also from US government sources, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Finally, the US State Department's 'White Paper' and 700 supporting documents detailing US foreign policy decision making is included as are reports originating from the US Department of Defense, the US Department of Justice, the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and the US Army, Navy, and Air Force