Pushing his get-tough national security views, Rudy Giuliani’s latest television ad–set to hit New Hampshire airwaves this week–pays homage to Ronald Reagan’s dealing with the Iranian hostage crisis.

In the ad, Giuliani attributes the Iranian decision to release the American captives within hours of Reagan’s 1981 presidential inauguration to the Gipper’s strong hand when it came to foreign policy.

“The best way you deal with dictators, the best way you deal with tyrants and terrorists, you stand up to them. You don’t back down,” Giuliani says, noting that the Iranian government held the Americans for 444 days. “They released the American hostages in one hour, and that should tell us a lot about these Islamic terrorists that we’re facing. The one hour in which they released them was the one hour in which Ronald Reagan was taking the Oath of Office as President of the United States.”

The Republican front-runner often lauds Reagan’s foreign policy on the stump–praising his policies towards Iran and the Soviets–and argues that if he takes office, he also intends to increase and project U.S. military strength.

Of course, Giuliani is glossing over a bit of history in the ad since the Iranian decision to release the hostages after Reagan took the oath of office, was more intended to diss President Carter rather than show any fear of Reagan.

Giuliani first four TV ads have mostly focused on his New York City mayoral accomplishments and this is the first that cuts to the heart of his main electoral argument—staying on offense against terrorism and keeping America safe.