7 - The 1979 Iranian Revolution and Hostage Crisis

In 1953, the CIA engineered the overthrow of Iran’s popular Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, and propped up instead the country’s detested monarch, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi — the Shah of Iran. Exploiting Iran’s oil fields, the Shah enriched himself while the country’s workers struggled, and his security forces ruthlessly persecuted dissidents who protested the regime.

By the late 1970s, the Shah’s cruelty toward the Iranian people would finally blow up in his face, as the country revolted in a series of strikes and protests. One of the Shah’s harshest critics — Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini — would emerge as a leading figure in Iran’s revolution and the Islamic Republic that would follow.

As for the Shah, he looked for sanctuary in his old ally — the United States. But President Jimmy Carter’s reception of the tyrant inflamed tensions in Tehran, and a group of students responded by seizing the U.S. embassy and holding 52 of its diplomats hostage. In this episode, we bring you the story of Iran’s 1979 Revolution and the events now known as the hostage crisis.

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Sources: https://bit.ly/3bhoMVw