On 4 November 1979, "students" stormed the American Embassy in Tehran:
After a three-hour struggle, the students took hostages, including 62 Americans, and demanded the extradition of the deposed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was receiving medical treatment in the United States for the cancer that ultimately would kill him. Some hostages would later be released amid the crisis, but it would take over a year for all to be freed.
It would take 444 days—until the last day of President Jimmy Carter's term—for Iran to release the hostages.
NPR this morning had an interview with Ambassador John Limbert, one of the hostages.