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Today in History: Monday, January, 20, 2025

1981: Iran hostage crisis ends

On Jan. 20, 1981, minutes after President Ronald Reagan’s inauguration as 40th president of the United States, the 52 U.S. captives held at the U.S. embassy in Tehran were released, ending the 444 day Iran hostage crisis. On. Nov. 4, 1979, militant Iranian students, outraged that  the U.S. government had allowed the ousted shah of Iran to travel to New York City for a medical treatment, seized the embassy. Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran’s political and religious leader, took over the hostage situation. Two weeks after the storming of the embassy, the ayatollah began to release all non-Americans and all female and minority Americans. The remaining 52 people remained captive for 14 months. President Jimmy Carter was unable to diplomatically resolve the crisis, and in April 1980, he ordered a disastrous rescue mission in which eight U.S. military personnel were killed and no hostages were rescued. In Nov. 1980, Carter lost the presidential election to Republican Ronald Reagan. On the day of Reagan’s inauguration, the United States freed almost $8 billion in frozen Iranian assets and the hostages were released.