Full Episode
Sunday, Sep 21
PBS NewsHour
  • Episodes
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletters
  • The Latest
  • Politics
    Politics
    • Brooks and Capehart
    • Politics Monday
    • Supreme Court
  • Arts
    Arts
    • CANVAS
    • Poetry
    • Now Read This
  • Nation
    Nation
    • Supreme Court
    • Race Matters
    • Essays
    • Brief But Spectacular
  • World
    World
    • Agents for Change
  • Economy
    Economy
    • Making Sen$e
    • Paul Solman
  • Science
    Science
    • The Leading Edge
    • ScienceScope
    • Basic Research
    • Innovation and Invention
  • Health
    Health
    • Long-Term Care
  • Education
    Education
    • Teachers' Lounge
    • Student Reporting Labs
  • For Teachers
    Education
    • Newshour Classroom
  • About
    • Feedback
    • Funders
    • Support
    • Jobs

Clarity when it matters most

With federal funding gone, your monthly support powers PBS News
Donate now
PBS News

Get news alerts from PBS News

Turn on desktop notifications?

iran hostage crisis

  • Full Episodes
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletters
  • Live
People mourn Palestinian children killed in Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis

World Nov 03

News Wrap: Israeli attacks kill dozens of people in Gaza and Lebanon

Nation Mar 20

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces new sanctions against Iran
Watch 7:34
New claim about Iran hostage crisis sabotage may change narrative of Carter presidency

In 1980, a prominent Republican sought to sabotage then-President Jimmy Carter's re-election by asking Middle Eastern leaders to get a message to the Iranians; keep the American hostages until after the election and Reagan will give you a better deal.

By Geoff Bennett, Cybele Mayes-Osterman, Ali Schmitz, Ian Couzens

World Jan 13

A man holds a picture of late Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, as people celebrate in the street after Iran launched missiles at U.S.-led forces in Iraq, in Tehran, Iran January 8, 2020. Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A timeline of U.S.-Iran relations

The U.S. and Iran have a complicated history dating back decades.

By Gretchen Frazee

Nation Dec 24

Watch 6:52
Why it took 36 years to compensate Iran hostage victims

In 1979, the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was overrun by militant Iranian students who took 53 people captive for 444 days. The ordeal left a long-lasting toll and no chance of Iranian compensation. Now Congress has changed that under the…

By PBS News Hour

World Mar 02

Photos: Eerie remnants of the former U.S. embassy, 35 years after Iran hostage crisis

Thirty-five years after the Iran hostage crisis, a rare look inside the former U.S. embassy in Tehran.

By William Brangham

Apr 11

U.S. blocks Iran’s controversial pick for UN ambassador

By Julie Pace, Associated Press

In a rare diplomatic rebuke, the United States has blocked Iran's controversial pick for envoy to the United Nations, a move that could stir fresh animosity at a time when Washington and Tehran have been seeking a thaw in relations.

Continue reading

Apr 02

Iran’s new ambassador to the U.N. held Americans hostage in 1979

By Lara Jakes, Associated Press

Hamid Aboutalebi was a member of a Muslim student group that stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

Continue reading

Support Provided By: Learn more

web ad

Educate your inbox

Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else.

Form error message goes here.

Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm.

Full Episode
Sunday, Sep 21
  • BDO
  • BNSF Railway
  • Consumer Cellular
  • Raymond James
  • Viewers Like You
  • Friends of the News Hour
PBS News

© 1996 - 2025 NewsHour Productions LLC. All Rights Reserved.

PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

Sections

  • The Latest
  • Politics
  • Arts
  • Nation
  • World
  • Economy
  • Science
  • Health
  • Education

About

  • About Us
  • TV Schedule
  • Press
  • Feedback
  • Funders
  • Support
  • Newsletters
  • Podcasts
  • Jobs
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use

Stay Connected

  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • X
  • TikTok
  • Threads
  • RSS

Subscribe to Here's the Deal with Lisa Desjardins

Form error message goes here.

Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm.

Support our journalism

Support for News Hour Provided By

  • BDO
  • BNSF Railway
  • Consumer Cellular
  • Raymond James
  • Viewers Like You