Iran revives hostage diplomacy in key year for nuclear talks
Tehran uses the arbitrary imprisonment of Westerners as a foreign policy tool. The latest case is that of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala
Less than 20 minutes into Ronald Reagan’s inauguration as U.S. president on January 20, 1981, the Islamic Republic of Iran released the 52 Americans it had held hostage for nearly 450 days in its embassy in Tehran. That crisis, and the bizarre failed attempts to free the hostages, are believed to have led to the defeat of Democrat Jimmy Carter. The release of the hostages was seen as a kind of gift to Reagan. The hostage-taking proved to be such a formidable tool of influence that the Iranian regime has never abandoned it. Today, hostage diplomacy remains a key strategy of its foreign policy, the latest manifestation of which was the arrest in December of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, who was released on January 8. This trump card has also been used in an issue facing a key year: nuclear negotiations. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — signed by Iran and the Western powers to guarantee that Tehran’s uranium enrichment program would not be directed toward the production of atomic weapons in exchange for relief from international sanctions against the country — expires on October 18.
