Situation Report 1
11/4/1979
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This report describes the events on the first day of the Iran Hostage Crisis, the day the hostages were taken.
The Iran Hostage Crisis was a major international crisis caused by the seizure of the U.S. Embassy, and its employees, by revolutionary Iranian students. The students, with support from the Ayatollah Khomeini-led government of Iran, held Embassy employees as hostages for 444 days. The crisis began on November 4, 1979, and ended with the release of the hostages on January 20, 1981.
Once-classified Situation Reports (Sitreps) were up-to-the-minute, informational reports about developments of the hostage crisis. This first one was issued on the day the hostages were taken, November 4th, 1979. The last one, Sitrep No. 561, was issued on January 19th, 1981, the day before the hostages were released. Generally, there was one Sitrep issued each day, and on some days, especially early in the crisis, several were issued per day. The Sitreps were created by an informal organization within the Department of State called the Iran Working Group (IWG).
The Iran Hostage Crisis was a major international crisis caused by the seizure of the U.S. Embassy, and its employees, by revolutionary Iranian students. The students, with support from the Ayatollah Khomeini-led government of Iran, held Embassy employees as hostages for 444 days. The crisis began on November 4, 1979, and ended with the release of the hostages on January 20, 1981.
Once-classified Situation Reports (Sitreps) were up-to-the-minute, informational reports about developments of the hostage crisis. This first one was issued on the day the hostages were taken, November 4th, 1979. The last one, Sitrep No. 561, was issued on January 19th, 1981, the day before the hostages were released. Generally, there was one Sitrep issued each day, and on some days, especially early in the crisis, several were issued per day. The Sitreps were created by an informal organization within the Department of State called the Iran Working Group (IWG).
This primary source comes from the Records of Interdepartmental and Intradepartmental Committees (State Department).
National Archives Identifier: 40492561
Full Citation: Situation Report 1; 11/4/1979; [SITREPs 1979-1980]; Records Relating to Hostages in Iran, 11/4/1979 - 4/13/1981; Records of Interdepartmental and Intradepartmental Committees (State Department), Record Group 353; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/situation-report-1, September 24, 2023]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
