The 1979 Iran hostage crisis made Khomeini the embodiment of Islamic evil to Americans.

Evidence

The Iran hostage crisis, which lasted from November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981, cast the new Islamic government of Iran and its charismatic bearded and turbaned leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, as the modern embodiments of Islamic evil. The overthrow of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi in 1979 gave way to the rise of a new Islamic theocracy in Iran, unseating one of the strongest U.S. allies in the region with a regime it would anoint as one of its greatest adversaries. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 248

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 248
• XREF: connects to: Iran’s 1979 events made Islamism the coming Green Menace for the US. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 254; Media imagery conflated Khomeini with all of Islam despite his minority Twelver Shi’a sect. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 225; The ‘Islamic fundamentalism’ discourse was born from a media-driven agenda around Khomeini’s Iran — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 219 (+1 more)