Iran’s Islamic revolution led by the Ayatollah Khomeini takes place in March 1979. He imposes a rigid Islamic constitution and other social and cultural changes that shock the educated elite in Iran. In October 1979 the US admits the Shah into the US for cancer treatment outraging the new leadership who demanded the Shah’s return. On Nov. 4, radical Iranian students take over the American Embassy, holding 52 staffers hostage for 444 days—The Iran Hostage Crisis.
Timeline: The Troubled Story of Iran-US Relations
