The peace accords between Egypt and Israel had barely concluded when the world's attention shifted to another area of the Middle East. In 1978 revolution broke out in Iran, led by the exiled Islamic religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The revolutionaries overthrew the repressive monarchy of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi in early 1979 and established a republic dominated by Shiite Muslim holy men. The new government identified the United States as the "Great Satan" and adopted a decidedly anti-American foreign policy.
The revolutionaries stormed the U. S. embassy in the capital city of Tehran later in the year in retaliation for the U. S. government's decision to let the exiled monarch of Iran come to the United States for medical treatment. For the better part of two years the revolutionaries held the embassy personnel hostage. The spectacle of an essentially Third World nation successfully defying the world's greatest superpower did much to weaken U. S. prestige around the world and contributed to Jimmy Carter's defeat in the 1980 presidential election.
Relations between the United States and Iran remained tense even at the end of the twentieth century. The Iranian government adopted a staunchly anti-Israeli foreign policy and sponsored several guerrilla organizations that launched attacks inside Israel. During the 1970's and 1980's the guerrilla attacks extended to American targets, because the Arab states perceived the
United States to be unquestioningly on the side of Israel in the conflict.
In 1980 war broke out between the new regime in Iran and the more secular state of Iraq. The Iraqi government feared that the religious fundamentalism inherent in the Iranian revolution might spread to its own country. The war lasted for eight years and was fought with great bitterness and loss of life on both sides.
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