America held hostage: in 1979, Islamic fundamentalists seized the U.S. Embassy in Iran, holding 52 Americans for 444 days--until a change in presidents.

• Author: Price, Sean
• Position: Times past

Marine Sergeant William Quarles had a bad feeling on the rainy morning of November 4, 1979. He was watching as thousands of Iranian college students swarmed around the U.S. Embassy's 27-acre compound in Iran's capital, Tehran (map, page 18). Quarles and other lightly armed marines provided security there, but they couldn't cope with an invasion.

The number of students shouting "Death to America!" kept growing. Even so, Quarles and other Americans felt sure this was just another anti-U.S. demonstration that would soon die out. "I can't believe this," he told fellow marines. "I don't believe these little knuckleheads think they're going to take over the embassy."

Yet that's exactly what happened. After a brief struggle, 66 Americans, most of whom worked for the embassy, were taken captive. A few were freed, but 52 remained hostages for more than 14 months. Their ordeal awakened Americans to the threat of terrorism by Islamic militants. It also changed the face of TV news and contributed to the downfall of a President of the United States.

ANGER AND SURPRISE

The Iran hostage crisis took Americans by surprise. It was simply unprecedented: Under international agreements, nations can expel foreign diplomats, but cannot detain or harm them.

But in Iran, student militants were seething with anger at the U.S. The previous year, they had helped overthrow their king, known as the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The Shah had brought Western ways to the country, but he employed brutal secret police, and his government was notoriously corrupt. The Shah had the backing of the U.S., which had an interest in maintaining Western control over Iranian oil. In 1953, the CIA had helped restore the Shah to power after a coup d'etat.

Then in February 1979, a fiery Muslim religious leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, awakened the rage of the poor and devout Muslims in Iran and forced the Shah into exile. Now the revolutionaries wanted the Shah returned for trial from the U.S., where President Jimmy Carter had granted him entry to be treated for cancer.

The students planned a sit-in protest at the American Embassy. As hostage John Limbert recalled:

"They seemed to be kids about 20 years old ... kids from small towns with rather strict upbringings. Many of them probably had never seen an American before."

The young zealots stormed the compound, cut the chains holding the big iron gates in front of the embassy, and rushed inside. The marines, heeding standing...