Dec. 25, 1979 - Washington, District of Columbia, U.S - Anti-Khomeini demostration in downtown DC. Protesting the takover of the US embassy in Tehran and of the holding hostage the 54 embassy employees. Police arrest one demonstrator and others yell at the police officers for protecting the Iranian students who were marching in supoort of the Khomeini government.
Mark Reinstein/ZUMA Wire
Mark Reinstein/ZUMA Wire
Dec. 25, 1979 - Washington, District of Columbia, U.S - Anti-Khomeini demostration in downtown DC. Protesting the takover of the US embassy in Tehran and of the holding hostage the 54 embassy employees. Police arrest one demonstrator and others yell at the police officers for protecting the Iranian students who were marching in supoort of the Khomeini government.
Taken Hostage is a riveting, two-part documentary film about the Iran hostage crisis, when 52 American diplomats, Marines, and civilians were taken hostage at the American Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979.
For 444 days, the world watched as the United States received a daily onslaught of vitriol, hatred, and humiliation from a country that had long been one of our closest allies. The crisis transformed the U.S. and Iran and forever upended the focus and direction of American foreign policy.
Taken Hostage explores the backstory of how America became ensnared in the Middle East and the nation’s role in igniting the firestorm that has consumed the most strategically important part of the world for the last 40 years.
With no narration, Taken Hostage uses the personal testimony of those whose lives were upended to tell the story of these dramatic, history-making events ― including the exceptional love story of former hostage Barry Rosen and his wife Barbara, who were both thrust into the public eye as the crisis dragged on.
Other key figures include Hilary Brown and Carole Jerome – two pioneering female foreign correspondents who risked their lives to uncover the truth of what was happening in Iran. Jerome had remarkable inside access to the highest levels of the Iranian government through her relationship with Iran’s foreign minister and chief hostage negotiator, Sadegh Ghotbzadeh, who died trying to stop the Iranian Revolution from devolving into a tyrannical theocracy.
Gary Sick, a senior member of President Carter’s national security team and longtime Iran expert, recounts how the crisis consumed the American government and Carter’s presidency. The film also reveals details of the failed attempt to rescue the hostages in a daring Special Forces operation.
The Iran Hostage Crisis laid the groundwork for the modern 24-hour news cycle, inspired an escalating cycle of political terrorism, and brought down the presidency of Jimmy Carter.
Watch the two-part premiere of Taken Hostage on Monday, November 14, and Tuesday, November 15 at 9pm on WITF TV and the PBS Video app. Stream the special for free through the PBS Video app for 4 weeks following its television premiere.
Part One chronicles America’s quarter-century of unwavering support for its ally, the Shah of Iran, despite his dictatorial and increasingly brutal and corrupt regime. The film traces the Shah’s program to rapidly modernize and westernize Iran in the span of a single generation and portrays in harrowing detail the violent Islamic revolution that overthrew the Shah in 1979.
Part Two explores the hostage crisis at the American embassy in Tehran led by militant Islamic students with the support and encouragement of the Iranian government, led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini.
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