Mission Iran

Special Forces Berlin & Operation Eagle Claw, JTF 1-79

By: James Stejskal

Narrated by: Jim Seybert

On November 4, 1979, "student" supporters of the Ayatollah seized the U.S. Embassy with over sixty hostages. Although the Cold War was in full swing, the Iran hostage crisis was a watershed for the United States.

Detachment A had been established in Berlin early in the Cold War to harass and delay any Soviet military advance west. This Special unit trained relentlessly for every aspect of unconventional warfare, and was later assigned a second mission of counterterrorism.

The plan for Operation Eagle Claw, as it became known, was extremely complex. The first stage was intelligence gathering—no mean feat as most of the CIA's capabilities in the country had been eliminated. With operatives trained in intelligence work, fluent in many languages, and adept at blending in, Det A took on the advanced recon of the targets. Then, when Delta Force admitted that it could only manage the assault of the Embassy, Det A volunteered to rescue the three Americans at the Foreign Ministry.

Veteran and historian James Stejskal details Det A's unique and integral role in Operation Eagle Claw, based upon firsthand accounts of the operatives involved.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 James Stejskal (P)2024 Tantor

An obscure bit of history, but…

.... for someone who was on alert with the 1509 airborne battalion when the hostage crisis first broke out back in 1979, these "insider" details were fascinating. The narrator was a little bit to sing song for my taste, but otherwise highly recommended for anyone who is interested in these events.

Excellent account of some little known quiet professionals

This was a great follow up to Special Forces Berlin. Thanks to the author for sharing the stories of these exceptional soldiers who set the stage for future generations.

Shoulda been a podcast

The actual story isn’t all that long. 2.5 hours ish. The reading of lists in the appendix is very weird for an audio format. Also, while the appendixes have original interviews, there are many many parts that are verbatim repeats of what’s in the main text. The author should have reworded the text so that the interviews remained authentic and his words still told the story.

Incredible story

Operation Eagle Claw is fascinating and tragic I try to read everything I can about these events, this recent book sheds a bit of insight however many times it repeats verbatim as interviews are recounted and I mean verbatim, no matter, if you enjoy the legendary mission you will enjoy this interesting read