Revolutionary Days: The Iran Hostage Crisis and the Hagur Claims Tribunal : Record of a Conference Held at New York University School of Law on the Fifteenth Anniversary

Few events have so captured the world's attention as the seizure by Iranian "students" of the United States embassy in Teheran, and the holding of American hostages for 444 agonizing days. It is hard to believe that almost two decades have passed since those momentous events, but they have remained fresh in the minds of all who took part, and they were vividly recalled at a historic conference held at New York University School of Law. This book records that conference, bringing together the recollection of more than thirty participants from the United States and abroad, as well as the documents necessary to understand the crisis and its resolution. The book focuses first on the events surrounding the seizure of the Embassy and the freezing of Iranian assets world-wide; second on the frustrating and complex negotiation with Iran, culminating in the Algiers Accords signed on the last day of the Presidency of Jimmy Carter; and third on the creation and functioning of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, whose work over more than fifteen years in adjudicationg controversies between states and private parties is the most thorough illustration of modern international law in action. The authors of this volume include the principal officials of the White House, Treasury, and Federal Reserve involved in the seizure of Iran's assets; several of the principal negotiators of the Algiers Accords; lawyers on both sides of the litigation of claims against Iran in U.S. courts; the first President of the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal as well as five other judges of that Tribunal; and two former Legal Advisers of the State Department and several of their associates. Altogether, the books presents a unique blend of history, politics, economics, and law, important both to scholars and for the general reader.