In a statement released on the 43rd anniversary of the failed US military operation, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the country has “growing authority” and keeps rendering American sanctions and threats ineffective.
“April 25, 1980 is reminiscent of the aggressive attack of the special combat forces of the American regime on the territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran and their illegal entry into Tabas Desert,” it read.
“The aggressive action and violation of the international regulations by the criminal American army against the territorial integrity of Iran was fortunately met with an exemplary failure in the light of divine grace.”
Recalling the US Army’s historic failure, the Foreign Ministry urged the government in Washington “to reflect on and learn lessons from the results of this action and more than four decades of hostile approaches and measures against the resistant and proud nation of Iran.”
“Now, 43 years on from the failure of the American government in the Tabas operation, the Islamic Republic of Iran moves ahead with growing authority … in the path of realizing the fundamental slogans of the Islamic Revolution, preserving national independence, prosperity and all-round progress [through] deepening friendly relations with nations, … countries and international organizations, based on mutual respect and preservation of common interests, in addition to neutralizing all kinds of American threats and sanctions.”
On April 24-25, 1980, the United States Armed Forces launched Operation Eagle Claw, under the direct order of then-president Jimmy Carter, in an attempt to release its 52 embassy staff held in Tehran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The operation, however, failed as a sandstorm crippled the US forces and their helicopters in Iran’s Tabas Desert.
Many believe the incident played a major role in Carter’s defeat in the 1980 presidential election in the US.
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