40 years: Embassy takeover in Iran

On Nov. 4, U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo will host an event in Washington, D.C., honoring the service and sacrifice of the former hostages on the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran, Iran. The event commemorates the bravery of all former hostages and families have shown during unimaginable circumstances. (Source: Dept. of State 11/01/19) The U.S. Embassy in Tehran is frozen in time - 1979 - on the 40th anniversary of the Iran hostage crisis. The diplomatic compound was overrun by students angered when Washington allowed ousted Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi into the U.S. for medical treatment. What initially began as a sit-in devolved into 444 days of captivity for 52 Americans seized in the embassy. Today, the embassy remains held by the Basij, a volunteer wing of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, partly as a museum and a space for student groups. The Iranian Embassy in Washington remains empty as well since then-President Carter expelled all of Iran's diplomats during the crisis. (Source: The AP 11/01/19)