Part 1 |Taken Hostage | American Experience

The Iran hostage crisis through the stories of those whose ordeal riveted the world.

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Part 1 |Taken Hostage | American Experience American Experience

Premiered November 14, 2022

Part 1 |Taken Hostage | American Experience: asset-mezzanine-16x9

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Part 1 |Taken Hostage | American Experience

Revisit the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, when 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, through stories of those whose ordeal riveted the world.

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Watch a preview of Part Two of Taken Hostage.

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Preview

Chapter 1 | Taken Hostage, Part 2

Watch a preview of Part One of Taken Hostage.

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Preview

Chapter 1 | Taken Hostage, Part 1

The Iran Hostage crisis in 1979 changed the modern mediascape forever.

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The event that held the news hostage

Watch the opening sequence of Taken Hostage.

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Title Sequence

Colonel James Q. Roberts recalls the details of the failed Iran Hostage rescue mission.

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Ways A Rescue Mission Can Go Wrong

With the Iran hostage crisis, President Carter faced one of the biggest challenges.

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Jimmy Carter

Who's who of the Iran Hostage Crisis.

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Who's Who

Barry Rosen was the press attaché at the U.S. embassy during the Iran hostage crisis.

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Barry Rosen

Hilary Brown was the first female foreign correspondent at ABC News.

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Hilary Brown

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was the last shah of Iran.

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The Shah

The secret U.S. and U.K. plan to put the Shah in control of Iran in 1953.

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Operation Ajax

A snapshot of each year from 1970 to 1979.

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Snapshot: America in the 1970s

The Iran hostage crisis through the stories of those whose ordeal riveted the world.

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Preview

Trailer | Taken Hostage

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American Experience, TV's most-watched history series, brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

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