Forty years ago, Iranian students took 66 Americans hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, launching the hostage crisis that would grip the United States for 444 days. As chants of “Death to America” consumed the new Islamic republic, the United States found an unlikely ally in navigating the tumultuous political changes and securing the release of the first batch of hostages on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 20, 1979: the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Jensehaugen, Jørgen (2019) How the PLO served U.S. interests during the Iranian hostage crisis, Washington Post. 4 November.
