1. For IRAN, give the following information:

1. capital
2. location/the countries that share its borders
3. the religious breakdown of the population
4. the type of government
5. the chief of state (and head of government if different) If monarch or dictator, since what date has he/she ruled? – include name of heir apparent for monarch
6. the population

Find the answers at the CIA World FactBook website. For each country, answers can be found under the “Geography” “People” and “Government” headings.

NOTE: Before answering the following questions, read the info under “Background” and watch the video under “Resources” below.

2. For IRAN:
a) list the who, what, where and when of the news item
b) What were the students demanding?
c) What did President Jimmy Carter do when he heard the news?
d) How did the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman describe the embassy takeover?
e) How did news reports contradict the spokesman’s claims?
f) President Carter’s refusal to consider any military action or force to rescue our hostages was made public. Do you think that information should have been made public? Explain your answer.
g) U.S. citizens were held by the Iranian militants for over a year - 444 days. Ask a parent or a grandparent what he/she remembers about the Iranian hostage crisis.
h) Republican Ronald Reagan beat Democrat Jimmy Carter in the November 1980 election.

Per wikipedia:  The Algiers Accords negotiated between November 1980 and Jan 1981 called for Iran's immediate freeing of the hostages, the unfreezing of $7.9 billion of Iranian assets and immunity from lawsuits Iran might have faced in America, and a pledge by the United States that "it is and from now on will be the policy of the United States not to intervene, directly or indirectly, politically or militarily, in Iran's internal affairs.” (For Iran’s part, it had to deposit $1 billion in an escrow account to satisfy claims adjudicated by the Tribunal in favor of American businesses that had lost assets after the hostage takeover.)

Regarding Iran’s decision to release the hostages on Reagan’s inauguration day, Michael Rubin wrote in a commentary that Iran’s “Supreme Leader” Ayatollah Khomeini “rejected substantive engagement for more than a year, until it became clear that Ronald Reagan would be the next president. …as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio implied, Khomeini was willing to strike an accord with Carter because Khomeini thought that he could extract a far greater price from a weak Carter than a stronger Reagan.
Ask a parent: do you agree with Mr. Rubin? Please explain your answer.