Iran hostage crisis

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This article is about the siege of the American embassy in Tehran. For the siege of the Iranian embassy in London, see Iranian Embassy siege.

Iran hostage crisis

Part of the consolidation of the Iranian Revolution

Iran hostage crisis - Iraninan students comes up U.S. embassy in Tehran.jpg

Iranian students crowd the U.S. Embassy in Tehran (November 4, 1979)

DateNovember 4, 1979 – January 20, 1981

(444 days or 1 year, 2 months, 2 weeks and 2 days)

Location

Tehran, Iran

Result

Hostages released by Algiers Accords

Severance (and end) of Iran–United States relations

Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan and his cabinet resigned

Iran–Iraq War

Sanctions imposed on Iran

The U.S. designates Iran as State Sponsors of Terrorism on January 19, 1984

Belligerents

Iran

Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line

People's Mujahedin[1] United States

Canada

Commanders and leaders

Iran Ruhollah Khomeini

Iran Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha[2]

Massoud RajaviUnited States Jimmy Carter

United States Ronald Reagan

Canada Joe Clark

Casualties and losses

8 American servicemen and 1 Iranian civilian killed during an attempt to rescue the hostages.

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Consolidation of the

Iranian Revolution

Part of a series on the

Iran hostage crisis

Iran hostage crisis - Iraninan students comes up U.S. embassy in Tehran.jpg

Topics

Hostage leaders

Parties and organizations

Events

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Fifty-two United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran[3][4] and seized hostages. A diplomatic standoff ensued. The hostages were held for 444 days from November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981.

Western media described the crisis as an "entanglement" of "vengeance and mutual incomprehension."[5] U.S. President Jimmy Carter called the hostage-taking an act of "blackmail" and the hostages "victims of terrorism and anarchy".[6] In Iran it was widely seen as an act against the U.S. and its influence in Iran, including its perceived attempts to undermine the Iranian Revolution and its longstanding support of the shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown in 1979.[7]