There were a couple of reasons that prompted those students to do what they took over the US embassy, also known as Den of Espionage, in Tehran on November 4, 1979 months after the victory of the Islamic Revolution.
Firstly, US interference in Iranian affairs was so widespread it even included determining local officials. Secondly, perhaps the 1953 coup de tat against Prime Minister Mosaddeq’s government dealt the heaviest blow to US credibility with the Iranian people.
The takover happened two weeks after Shah had been allowed to enter the United States; a group of students took over the US embassy in Iran.
Following the admission of Mohammad Reza Shah by the United States for what was announced as medical treatment, Iran became the scene of massive anti-US protests.
The protesters berated the US for offering refuge to a dictator that it had supported for so many years.
Soon after, a group of students decided to take over the US embassy in Tehran. Most of the political groups in Iran supported it, particularly after Imam Khomeini threw his weight behind the students.
Embassy staffers began destroying all the documents by feeding them to a shredder.
Still, the students managed to painstakingly piece the shreds together and recover sensitive information.
In one document, an embassy staff member, a man named John Graves, suggested a plan to his Washington masters that included creating chaos in Iran and torpedoing the then-fledgling revolution.
What followed was completely unexpected. The Americans were left scratching their heads. More than 50 of their embassy staff members were taken into custody by students on the premises.
A country that was once the anchor for their presence in the Middle East had now become one of the most serious enemies of American interventions around the world. At last, after 444 days, the Iranian Parliament ordered the staff of US embassy to be released.
Each year, Iranians on this occasion hold massive rallies across the country to mark the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the US embassy in the capital, Tehran.
Demonstrators gather outside the building of the former US embassy and chant slogans against the United States. People take to the streets in other cities across the country as well to mark the event.
November 4, which falls on 13th day of the Iranian calendar month, Aban (October 23-November 21), is also known as the Student Day in Iran, marking National Day of Fight against Global Arrogance.
In 1979, a group of Iranian university students took over the US embassy, which they believed had turned into a center of espionage aimed at overthrowing the Islamic Republic in Iran following the country’s Islamic Revolution earlier in 1979.
Documents found at the compound later corroborated claims by revolutionary students that the US was using its Tehran embassy to hatch plots for the overthrow of the nascent Islamic establishment in Iran.
Founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini later hailed the event as “a second revolution” with a greater significance than the original revolution of the Iranian nation.