Permanent historical factsheet

Siege of US Embassy

United States of America · Government / Democratic Party Government. Chronological records rendered directly from the World History Database.

7Records
1979–1981Date range
1Named people
2Places

Chronological records

1979

Jimmy Carter4 November 1979

Tehran · Government / Democratic Party Government

To get the US to return the Shah to Iran on charges of torture, murder & robbery. 500 Iranians sieze the US Embassy in Tehran take 90 hostages & burn the American flag

Jimmy Carter21 November 1979

Islamabad · Government / Democratic Party Government

A mob in the Pakistani capital burns the US Embassy to the ground, killing a marine

Jimmy Carter1979

Islamabad · Government / Democratic Party Government

Protesters sack the US embassy in Islamabad, resulting in the death 4 people, sparked by a false report the US was involved in a fire at the Grand Mosque in Mecca

1980

Jimmy Carter4 November 1980

Tehran · Government / Democratic Party Government

Foreign Minister, Sadeq Qotbzadeh, condemned the rescue effort as "an act of war". Extremists seize the US Embassy, take 66 hostages & demand the extradition of the Shah. A helicopter mission to rescue the hostages leads to political disaster

Jimmy Carter6 November 1980

Tehran · Government / Democratic Party Government

Informed at an NSC meeting that KGB agents had been identified in the US Embassy

Jimmy Carter1980

Tehran · Government / Democratic Party Government

The failed operation leads to the death of 8 soldiers. A helicopter mission to rescue the hostages leads to political disaster

1981

Jimmy Carter21 January 1981

Tehran · Government / Democratic Party Government

The day after Jimmy Carter leaves Office the US hostages in Iran are released

Names involved

Jimmy Carter

Provenance

This factsheet is generated from stored World History Database records matching the country, broad category, detailed category and exact Event value shown above. Duplicate display records are collapsed; database wording is otherwise preserved. Source provenance varies by record, so formal academic citation should be checked against the relevant primary source, archive or specialist historical reference.