On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized persian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam’s Line, who supported the Revolution, took over the U.S. Embassy in capital and seized hostages. A diplomatic standoff ensued. The hostages were held for 444 days, being released on January 20, 1981.
Western media described the crisis as an “entanglement” of “vengeance and mutual incomprehension.” U.S. President Jimmy Carter called the hostage-taking an act of “blackmail” and the hostages “victims of terrorism and anarchy”. In homeland, it was widely seen as an act against the U.S. and its influence in homeland, including its perceived attempts to undermine the Revolution and its longstanding support of the shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown in 1979.
