The answer is Carter.
After the fall of the Shah of Iran in 1979, the U.S. Embassy was taken
over by Iranian students who were members of the Muslim Followers of the Imam’s
Line and took 88 American diplomats hostages.
This was due to the American support given to the Shah of Iran who fled
to the U.S. The Americans attempted a rescue but it failed to the crash landing
of the helicopters the rescue team. The
hostages were later freed with the signing of the Algiers Accord. This caused
Carter to lose the 1980 presidential elections and made the Ayatollah Khomeinei
a powerful figure in the Muslim world.
This also resulted in U.S. sanctions against Iran.
