Iranian Hostage Crisis
By Matthew Ramgolam & Jorge Ramos
American Hostages Taken
On November 4, 1979, an angry mob of young Islamic revolutionaries overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking more than 54 Americans hostage. From the moment the hostages were seized until they were released minutes after Ronald Reagan took the oath of office as president 444 days later.The cause of the hostage crisis was that the U.S. was helping Shah the hated king of Iran. Jimmy Carter was helping Shah with his cancer , the young islamic mobs wanted to kill Shah. The mob group made an offer to let the hostages go for the exchange of Shah.
It was not at all clear who they represented or what they hoped to achieve. A similar mob had briefly done the same thing nine months earlier, holding the American ambassador hostage for a few hours before members of Khomeini's retinue ordered him released. But this time, Khomeini saw a chance to consolidate his power around a potent symbol, and issued a statement in support of the action against the Americans. The students vowed not to release the Americans until the U.S. returned the Shah for trial, along with billions of dollars they claimed he had stolen from the Iranian people
One American captured by the islamic mob
Islamic Mob burning American flag
Painting of what the mob did to the Americans