Hostages

On November 4, 1979, Iranian student activists stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking over 60 Americans hostage. What was planned as a 48-hour sit-in to protest American imperialism, ballooned into an international crisis and 24/7 media event that would last 444 days. With never-before-seen archival footage and revelatory new interviews with the American hostages and Iranian hostage-takers alike, the series is a gripping chronicle of one of the most dramatic international deadlocks in American history, a deep dive into the geo-political history that led to the crisis, and an exploration of the political fallout that reverberates today. A riveting, intricate portrait of an event that made international headlines, HOSTAGES unfolds with ticking-clock urgency through the 444-day ordeal, while the episodes also travel back in time to explore decades of the complex, intertwined relations between the two countries. The series trains its lens on the complexities of U.S./Iran relations that emerge from a history of covert CIA operations, high-rolling oil deals, deposed leaders, revolutionary idealism and religious fervor, a lost presidency, and backdoor arms sales. Probing a range of perspectives on the complicated legacy of the crisis, the series brings groundbreaking historical moments to life through first-person accounts from former hostages, Iranian student revolutionaries and hostage-takers, diplomats, security experts, politicians and journalists in both countries. Subjects include: former hostages Al Golacinski, Kathryn Koob, Paul Lewis, John Limbert, Michael Metrinko, and Victor Tomseth; student revolutionary hostage-takers Ebrahim Asgharzadeh and Massoumeh Ebtekar; Gary Sick, National Security Council and Persian Gulf specialist; Chris Matthews, speech writer for President Carter; Mansour Farhang, former Iranian Ambassador to the UN; Mohsen Sazegara, former government official of the Islamic Republic of Iran and political dissident; Lesley Stahl, CBS White House Correspondent; Robert Armao, spokesman for Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi; Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, former President of the Islamic Republic of Iran; and many more.