Story highlights
The siege of the U.S. Embassy in Iran was 35 years ago
Some American hostages were subject to a mock execution
Iranians waited for President Reagan's inauguration before releasing the hostages
The embassy in Tehran is now an Islamic cultural center
(CNN) —
It has been more than 35 years since a group of Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took a group of Americans hostage. You have seen this story play out in movies like “Argo” and shows like “Homeland,” but here are six things about the Iran hostage crisis that you may not have known.
1) This conflict is often described as the United States’ first brush with political Islam.
In 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini installed an anti-Western Islamic theocracy, which replaced the pro-Western monarchy of the Shah of Iran. The U.S. was referred to as “the Great Satan” by the new Iranian government, and Iranians looked at the United States with suspicion because of its role in keeping the Shah in power. Iranians felt the United States meddled too much in Iran’s internal affairs, and were afraid the CIA was plotting to return the Shah to power. The Ayatollah himself blessed the hostage-taking at the embassy, further fueling the government’s hard line against the United States.
2) The U.S. Embassy in Tehran warned Washington the embassy would be attacked.
By October 1979, the Shah had fled Iran and was staying in Mexico. There, doctors discovered the Shah was suffering from an aggressive cancer and recommended he be admitted to a hospital in the United States. The situation in Tehran was already tense, and the head of the diplomatic mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran sent several cables to Washington, saying that if the Shah was allowed to come to the United States for treatment, the embassy would be taken. President Jimmy Carter allowed the Shah into the United States, with much hesitation, and the Iranians were outraged. They saw this as an excuse to bring the Shah to the United States to plot his return to power. This was just weeks before the embassy was attacked.
3) Some of the hostages were beaten and tortured, and even underwent a mock execution.
Iran has maintained a narrative that the hostages were treated well, but that is not true. Not all the hostages were treated the same. The two women, Ann Swift and Kathryn Koob, said they were treated “correctly” by their captors, but others, including Al Golacinski, John Limbert and Rick Kupke, were subject to a mock execution, where they were awakened in the middle of the night, forced to strip to their underwear and marched to a room in the basement where their guards made it seem they were about to be executed by firing squad. The guards fired their weapons, but they were not loaded. Then the guards laughed. Why did they do it? Limbert said it was because “they thought it would be fun.”
4) The hostages were released only after President Reagan was sworn in.
Ted Koppel described this as the Iranians’ last act of cruelty toward President Carter. Even though the United States and Iran had come to an agreement to free the hostages in December, the Iranians waited literally until the hour President Reagan was sworn in before allowing the plane with the hostages to take off. The Iranians had a deep hatred of Carter and wanted to deny him this last moment of victory as President.
5) After the hostages were released, they met with President Jimmy Carter.
William Daugherty, who was held in solitary confinement for almost the entire time he was a hostage, said, “It was not a warm welcome” when Jimmy Carter flew to the U.S. military base in Germany to meet the hostages right after their release. The hostages were split on their thinking. Many felt they were left unprotected in the embassy after Carter made the decision to allow the Shah into the United States. Daugherty said that during the meeting, Carter went around to hug all the hostages, and many remained still with their arms at their sides and did not return his hug.
6) The former U.S. Embassy in Tehran has been preserved as a museum.
The embassy in Tehran is now an Islamic cultural center and a museum, preserved from the days when it was a prison in 1979. It stands as a symbol of the Iranian revolution, and is known in Iran as the “den of spies.” Old typewriters, communication equipment, even old visa photos, are on display. Every year on the anniversary of the hostage taking, Iranians hold rallies where “Death to America” is chanted, just as it was in 1979.
Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s
PHOTO:
National Archive/Newsmakers/Getty Images
Pop culture and politics collided on December 21, 1970, when the King of Rock 'n' Roll, Elvis Presley, visited President Richard Nixon in the White House Oval Office. The '70s may have been many things, but boring sure wasn't one of them. Check out 70 of the most unforgettable moments of the decade. For more, watch the CNN Original Series "The Seventies."
Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s
PHOTO:
NASA/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Apollo 13 returns safely to Earth —
The Apollo 13 spacecraft was intended to be the third landing on the moon, but the NASA crew aborted its mission after an oxygen tank exploded on board. The astronauts landed in the South Pacific on April 17, 1970. Here, lunar module pilot Fred W. Haise Jr. is about to be hoisted up to a recovery helicopter from the USS Iwo Jima.
Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s
PHOTO:
John Filo/AP
Kent State massacre —
Four students died and nine others were wounded on May 4, 1970, when members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on students protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State University in Ohio. In this Pulitzer Prize-winning photo, taken by Kent State photojournalism student John Filo, Mary Ann Vecchio can be seen screaming as she kneels by the body of slain student Jeffrey Miller.
Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s
PHOTO:
Hans J. Hoffmann/ullstein bild/Getty Images
The Beatles call it quits —
The "Fab Four," pictured here in 1970, released their final album, "Let It Be," on May 8, 1970. The album came one month after Paul McCartney announced the group's breakup.
Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s
PHOTO:
Ray Lussie/Boston Herald American/AP
'Flying Bobby' —
In one moment, Bobby Orr became a hockey legend. On May 10, 1970, Orr scored an overtime goal in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals, giving the Boston Bruins their first championship since 1941. In 1971, Orr signed the first million-dollar contract in NHL history -- $200,000 a year for five years -- and in 1979 he became the youngest NHL Hall of Famer when he was inducted at the age of 31.
Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s
PHOTO:
Fred W. McDarrah/Getty Images
Gay rights movement gains popularity —
Gay rights activists Foster Gunnison and Craig Rodwell lead a gay rights march in New York on June 28, 1970, then known as Gay Liberation Day. The march was held on the first anniversary of the police raid of the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village. The raid led to demonstrations and protests by the gay community. The Stonewall riots helped bring together the gay community in New York, and by 1971 gay rights groups had formed in almost all of the major cities in America.
Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s
PHOTO:
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
'Hey! Ho! Let's go!' —
The '70s ushered in a new musical movement that put a premium on speed, simplicity and raw power. Bands like the Ramones, pictured, and the Sex Pistols put to waste the trippy, hippie music of the '60s, replacing it with short, fast songs filled with attitude and angst. It could only be called one thing: punk.
Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s
PHOTO:
Fox Photos/Getty Images
Indira Gandhi re-elected —
Indira Gandhi, the only woman to ever hold the office of Prime Minister of India, won a second term in a landslide victory in March 1971. She would be re-elected to a fourth term in 1980, but she was assassinated by two of her bodyguards in 1984.
Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s
PHOTO:
AP Photo
Disney World opens —
A crowd in Orlando waits for Walt Disney World's Main Street to open in October 1971. The park cost an estimated $400 million to build and now attracts around 25 million visitors annually. When Disney World opened in 1971, the price for admission was $3.50. A single-day ticket now is $105 for anyone over 10 years old.
Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s
PHOTO:
Popperfoto/Getty Images
'Bloody Sunday' —
On January 30, 1972, British soldiers opened fire against protesters in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, who were marching against British rule. Thirteen people were killed on the scene, and more than a dozen were injured. After the shooting, recruitment and support for the Irish Republican Army skyrocketed. Three decades of violence known as The Troubles followed, and almost 3,000 people died.
Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s
PHOTO:
Fotosearch/Getty Images
Nixon in China —
Richard Nixon became the first U.S. President to visit China. His trip in February 1972 was an important step in building a relationship between the two countries.
Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s
PHOTO:
Nick Ut/AP
'Napalm Girl' —
Associated Press photographer Nick Ut photographed terrified children running from the site of a napalm attack during the Vietnam War in June 1972. A South Vietnamese plane accidentally dropped napalm on its own troops and civilians. Nine-year-old Kim Phuc, center, ripped off her burning clothes while fleeing. The image communicated the horrors of the war and contributed to the growing anti-war sentiment in the United States. After taking the photograph, Ut took the children to a hospital.
