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During the Iran hostage crisis, how many days were the American diplomats held captive?
The Iran hostage crisis is one of the biggest foreign policy debacles of the US government. The crisis unfolded after a revolution by Islamic fundamentalists against the pro-American Shah of Iran. On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranians took over the US embassy in Tehran and took some US diplomats hostage.
The Americans were held captive for a total of 444 days. There was a military operation to rescue the hostages but it ended up in failure and loss of life. The hostages were finally released on January 20, 1981.
The crisis was a serious embarrassment for US President Jimmy Carter’s administration and it undermined his foreign policy.