Iran during the Cold War
In 1953 the US and UK successfully overthrew the Iranian Government in a coup d'état. Later in 1979, a revolution removed the pro-american Shah and he was replaced by an anti-american leader named Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The new shah loathed the US. The recently removed shah had cancer and seeked medical attention in the US. Eventually President Carter allowed him into the country under the belief that it was the humane thing to do. The Iranians wanted the shah to return for criminal prosecution for the alleged crimes he had committed. On November 4, 1979 Muslim radical students took the American diplomats in the US Embassy hostage because the US did not return the shah. The hostage crisis lasted 444 days and ended with the Algiers Accord treaty.