Military Operations

Operation Eagle Claw

Contemporary

Citation Formats

General Reference

War and Military Atlas. "Operation Eagle Claw." Accessed September 8, 2026. https://military.interactiveatlas.org/military-operations/operation-eagle-claw.

APA Style

War and Military Atlas. (n.d.). Operation Eagle Claw. Retrieved September 8, 2026, from https://military.interactiveatlas.org/military-operations/operation-eagle-claw

BibTeX

@misc{warandmilitaryatlas-operation-eagle-claw,
  author = {War and Military Atlas},
  title = {Operation Eagle Claw},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://military.interactiveatlas.org/military-operations/operation-eagle-claw},
  note = {Accessed September 8, 2026}
}

Operation Eagle Claw was a failed United States military attempt on 24-25 April 1980 to rescue 52 American hostages held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran. A joint Delta Force, Army Ranger, Air Force and Navy task force was to stage through a desert site codenamed Desert One before assaulting the embassy, but helicopter mechanical failures and a sandstorm forced the mission to be aborted; during withdrawal, a helicopter collided with a transport aircraft, killing eight American servicemen.

Facts

Operation Type

Special-forces hostage rescue (aborted) 1

Start Date

1980-04-24 1

End Date

1980-04-25 1

Location

Desert One staging site, near Tabas, Iran (planned target: U.S. Embassy, Tehran) 1

Participants

Delta Force, U.S. Army Rangers (75th Infantry), U.S. Air Force and Navy aircrews, CIA Special Activities Division 1

Objective

Rescue 52 American hostages held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran 1

Outcome

Mission aborted after helicopter failures; a helicopter-aircraft collision during withdrawal killed eight U.S. servicemen; the hostages were not rescued 1

Cross-Tradition Connections