This operation was ordered by U.S. President Jimmy Carter to end the Iran hostage crisis by rescuing 52 Americans held captive at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran on April 24, 1980.
The mission was a failure and the hostages remained in Iran until the following January .
Its failure, and the humiliating public debacle that ensued, damaged American prestige worldwide and is believed by many, including Carter himself, to have played a major role in his defeat in the 1980 U.S. presidential election.