Fiasco

Episode 1

Setting the Stage

Sun, Sep 19, 2021 54 mins

The first episode looks at the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the ensuing hostage crisis. Leon Neyfakh narrates that while the Iran-Contra affair was known as "Ronald Reagan's scandal" the stage was set by President Jimmy Carter. The 1979 oil crisis causes frustration among American citizens because of empty gas pumps. In July 1979, Carter delivered his "Crisis of Confidence" speech. When Mohammad Reza Shah arrives in the United States for cancer treatment, some Iranian pro-Khomeini protesters claims that the Iranian king is malingering to plot a return to Iran to stage a counter-revolution. Abbas Milani says that while the Iranian king suppressed and arrested the communists, he allowed the Islamic clergy to organize and mobilize to "fight communism." ABC News's Nightline was started to give broadcast time on national television to the families of the 1979 American hostages held in Tehran. In April 1980, eight American service members die when their helicopter crashes in Iranian desert (Operation Eagle Claw). Ralph Reed says,"Even though he [Ronald Reagan] was divorced [twice] and came out of Hollywood," the Evangelical Christians welcomed him. Modern interviews and archival footages are shown.