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Iran Marks 1979 Takeover of US Embassy, Hostage Crisis

Associated Press

   TEHRAN, IRAN - Reviving decades-old cries of "Death to America,'' Iran
   on Monday marked the 40th anniversary of the 1979 student takeover of
   the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and the 444-day hostage crisis that followed
   as tensions remain high over the country's collapsing nuclear deal with
   world powers.

   Demonstrators gathered in front of the former U.S. Embassy in downtown
   Tehran as state television aired footage from other cities across the
   country.

   This year's rallies come as Iran's regional allies in Iraq and Lebanon
   face widespread protests. The Iranian Consulate in Karbala, Iraq, a
   holy city for Shiites, saw a mob attack it overnight. Associated Press
   video showed a fire burned its gate as demonstrators threw gasoline
   bombs and climbed its walls, some waving an Iraqi flag. Iranian media
   only reported a "protest outside'' of the diplomatic post, adding that
   things had returned to normal.

   The main event in Tehran on Monday is rally by hard-liners at the
   former embassy and an address by Iranian army commander Gen. Abdolrahim
   Mousavi. Demonstrators at other rallies on Monday also cried: "Death to
   America!'' and "Death to Israel!"

   A billboard at Tehran's Vali-e Asr Square, often used by hard-liners to
   highlight their political views, showed people waving flags from around
   the world and cheering as an American flag burned. A caption on it
   read: "We are the superpower.''

   What exactly led to the 1979 takeover of the embassy remained obscure
   at the time to Americans who for months could only watch in horror as
   TV newscasts showed Iranian protests at the embassy. Popular anger
   against the U.S. was rooted in the 1953 CIA-engineered coup that
   toppled Iran's elected prime minister and cemented the power of Shah
   Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

   The shah, dying from cancer, fled Iran in January 1979, paving the way
   for the country's Islamic Revolution. But for months, Iran faced
   widespread unrest, ranging from separatist attacks, worker revolts and
   internal power struggles. Police reported for work but not for duty,
   allowing chaos to unfold, including for Marxist students to briefly
   seize the U.S. Embassy.

   In this power vacuum, then-President Jimmy Carter allowed the shah to
   seek medical treatment in New York. That lit the fuse for the Nov. 4,
   1979, takeover by Islamist students, who initially planned a sit-in at
   the embassy.

   But the situation quickly spun out of their control.

   Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the long-exiled Shiite cleric whose return
   to Iran sparked the Islamic Revolution, gave his support to the
   takeover. He would use that popular angle to expand the Islamists'
   power.

   Some hostages would be released as the crisis unfolded, while several
   others who escaped the embassy and found safety with Canada's
   ambassador, left Iran via a CIA-planned escape - dramatic moments that
   were recounted in the 2012 film "Argo."

   Another 52 American hostages would be held for 444 days until the
   inauguration of President Ronald Reagan, when they were freed.