Iran issued this stamp and special envelope in 1986 to mark the sixth anniversary of the "Defeat of the Direct American Military Attack on Iran" at Tabas in 1980. The grim stamp shows a downed helicopter and an American corpse; the envelope's decorative cachet shows a burning American flag. This year marked the thirtieth anniversary of the doomed Tabas raid.
Ordered by then President Carter, the so-called Operation Eagle Claw was an attempt to rescue the American hostages captured in the occupation of the Embassy in Tehran. An American taskforce tried to establish a secret base in the desert near Tabas: A helicopter collided with a C-130 troop transport and eight soldiers were killed; the mission was aborted. The Islamic Republic bragged that even God was on their side, He having sent a sandstorm out of nowhere to repulse the small American invasion.
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