The date is November 4th, 1979, and the US Embassy in Tehran, Iran is surrounded by Islamist students and militants.  The Ayatollah had assumed power earlier that year as a result of the Iranian Revolution, deposing the Shah, who had been installed in 1953 as part of US backed military coup.  The Shah fled to the US, where he was being given medical treatment for cancer.  As the protesters outside compound grow in numbers, volume and anger, one man cautiously climbs over the fence and onto American soil.  He is followed by another, and another, and then the chains on the gate are cut, and the entire crowd swarms in.  The US soldiers stationed inside the embassy eventually stand down, not wanting to fire into the civilians and cause a bigger incident.  Eventually 52 American embassy workers are captured, and will remain hostages for 444 days, in what will become one of the defining moments in US-Iran relations.  But what the Iranians didn’t know, was that six Americans escaped, and are on the run. Continue reading →