<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic standoff between Iran and the United States of America . Fifty - two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981, after a group of Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran . It stands as the longest hostage crisis in recorded history . </P> <P> The crisis was described by the Western media as an "entanglement" of "vengeance and mutual incomprehension". President Jimmy Carter called the hostages "victims of terrorism and anarchy" and said: "The United States will not yield to blackmail ." In Iran it was widely seen as a blow against the United States and its influence in Iran, including its perceived attempts to undermine the Iranian Revolution and its longstanding support of the recently overthrown Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who had led an autocratic regime . "4 November 1979 is a date I will never forget," said Jimmy Carter . </P>

Who was taken hostage in iran in 1976