CNN Editorial Research
Here’s a look at the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, in which 52 U. S. citizens were held captive for 444 days.
1978 – The authoritarian regime of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi sparks protests and riots.
January 16, 1979 – The Shah flees Iran and travels to Egypt.
February 1, 1979 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Iran after 14 years in exile to lead the country.
October 22, 1979: The Shah is allowed to enter the United States to obtain medical treatment for cancer.
Nov. 4, 1979: Iranian scholars protesting outside the U. S. embassy in Tehran whip the embassy and take 90 other people, plus 66 Americans, hostage. Scholars call for the extradition of the Shah of the United States. Ayatollah Khomeini asks for help from the actions of academics.
November 5, 1979: Iran cancels military treaties with the United States and the Soviet Union that would authorize intervention by the U. S. or Soviet military.
November 6, 1979 – Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan resigns, leaving Ayatollah Khomeini and the Revolutionary Council in power.
November 7, 1979 – U. S. President Jimmy Carter sends former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman William Miller to Iran to negotiate the release of hostages. Ayatollah Khomeini refuses to meet with them.
November 14, 1979 – Carter orders the freezing of Iranian assets in U. S. banks.
November 17, 1979: Khomeini orders the capture of African-American women and hostages. They were captured on November 19 and 20, bringing the total number of American hostages to 53.
December 4, 1979 – The United Nations Security Council approves a solution calling on Iran to hand over hostages.
December 15, 1979 – The Shah leaves the United States for Panama.
January 28, 1980 – Six U. S. embassy employees, who had evaded capture and had hidden in the homes of Canadian embassy officials, flee Iran. In 1997, it was revealed that, along with the Canadian government, the CIA had made the escape possible.
March 1980: The Shah returns to Egypt.
April 7, 1980 – President Carter breaks diplomatic relations with Iran, pronounces new sanctions, and orders all Iranian diplomats to leave the United States.
April 25, 1980 – Eight U. S. servicemen are killed when a helicopter and transport plane collide in a failed attempt to rescue hostages.
July 11, 1980 – Another hostage is freed due to illness. The total number of U. S. hostages now stands at 52.
July 27, 1980 – The Shah dies in Egypt.
September 12, 1980 – Ayatollah Khomeini sets new conditions for the release of hostages, adding the recovery of the wealth of the backward Shah and the unfreezing of Iranian assets.
November 1980 to January 1981: Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher and his delegation work through mediators in Algeria to negotiate the release of the hostages.
January 19, 1981 – The United States and Iran sign an agreement to take hostages and unfreeze Iranian assets.
January 20, 1981: The remaining U. S. hostages are freed and flown to Wiesbaden Air Base in Germany.
December 18, 2015 – Congress passes a budget bill that includes a provision allowing the 53 hostages to receive $10,000 for the day they are detained. In addition, spouses and children will receive a one-time payment of $600,000 separately.
November 19, 2019 – The law is amended to include victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks, cutting the amount of budget available to compensate former hostages.
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