While Iran is set to celebrate the 35th anniversary of its Islamic revolution on Tuesday, the most internationally recognised episode of the uprising remains the American hostage crisis.
On November 4, 1979, a group of revolutionary students stormed the US embassy in downtown Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The crisis captivated the world and put the country on the US nightly news for the duration.
Al Jazeera’s Soraya Lennie gained access to the former US embassy compound in the capital and sends us this photo essay.