JERUSALEM, Oct. 17, 2025 — Since the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, the Islamic Republic of Iran has turned the detention of foreign citizens into a central weapon of diplomacy.
What began as an act of revolutionary defiance has evolved into a sophisticated strategy of hostage diplomacy — one that has been copied and refined by Iran’s regional proxies, including Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and Shi’ite militias in Iraq and Syria.
THE ORIGIN: U.S. EMBASSY SEIZURE, 1979–1981
On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The crisis humiliated Washington and taught Tehran an enduring lesson: hostages can yield political rewards. The Algiers Accords ended the ordeal, but the tactic became a permanent part of the regime’s playbook.