U.S. Embassy, Tehran
Encyclopedia
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
is a building located in Tehran, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
.
History
The embassyDiplomatic mission
A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one state or an international inter-governmental organisation present in another state to represent the sending state/organisation in the receiving state...
was designed in 1948 by the architect Ides van der Gracht. It was a long, low two-story brick building, similar to American high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
s built in the 1930s and '40s. For this reason, the building was nicknamed "Henderson High" by the embassy staff, referring to Loy W. Henderson
Loy W. Henderson
Loy Wesley Henderson was a United States Foreign Service Officer and diplomat.-Early life:Henderson was born in Rogers, Arkansas in 1892 to a poor Methodist preacher. He attended college in a small town in Kansas before transferring to Northwestern University...
, who became America's ambassador to Iran just after construction was completed in 1951.
The US diplomatic mission has been defunct since the Iran hostage crisis
Iran hostage crisis
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian...
of 1979. Since then, the United States government has been represented in Iran by the United States Interests Section
Protecting power
A protecting power is a state which somehow protects another state, and/or represents the interests of the protected state's citizens in a third state....
of the Embassy of Switzerland
Diplomatic missions of Switzerland
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Switzerland, excluding honorary consulates. Switzerland is well known as a protecting power, having used its embassies abroad to represent the interests of states hostile to each other since the Franco-Prussian War...
in Tehran. The name currently given to the compound by many Iranians is variously translated as "espionage den," "den of espionage", and "nest of spies".
After the fall of the embassy, Revolutionary Guard
Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps
The Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution , often called Revolutionary Guards, is a branch of Iran's military, founded after the Iranian revolution...
used it as a training center. The brick walls that form the perimeter (the embassy grounds are the size of a city block) feature a number of anti-American murals commissioned by the government of Iran
Politics of Iran
The politics of Iran take place in a framework of theocracy guided by an Islamist ideology. The December 1979 constitution, and its 1989 amendment, define the political, economic, and social order of the Islamic Republic of Iran, declaring that Shi'a Islam of the Twelver school of thought is...
. The site has also housed a bookstore and a museum (though both are closed to foreigners and the general Iranian public, though exceptions do exist). The Great Seal of the United States
Great Seal of the United States
The Great Seal of the United States is used to authenticate certain documents issued by the United States federal government. The phrase is used both for the physical seal itself , and more generally for the design impressed upon it...
is badly damaged but still visible at the entryway.
The Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line
Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line
Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line , also translated as Muslim Students of the Imam Khomeini Line, was an Iranian student group that occupied the U.S. embassy in Tehran on 4 November 1979...
published documents seized in the embassy (including painstakingly reconstructed shredded documents) in a series of books called "Documents from the US Espionage Den" . These books included telegrams, correspondence, and reports from the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
and Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
, some of which remain classified
Classified information
Classified information is sensitive information to which access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of persons. A formal security clearance is required to handle classified documents or access classified data. The clearance process requires a satisfactory background investigation...
to this day.
See also
- Iran hostage crisisIran hostage crisisThe Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian...
- Iran – United States relations
- United States Ambassador to IranUnited States Ambassador to IranPrior to 1944, Iran was not served by a United States ambassador; instead, a diplomatic minister was sent instead. After the revolution in 1944, the first ambassador was then named....
- Iranian Embassy in Washington (Iran does not currently have an embassy in the United States, but its interests are handled through the Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the United StatesInterests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the United StatesThe Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the United States is a part of the embassy of Pakistan in Washington, D.C., and is the de facto diplomatic representation of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the United States....
in the Pakistani embassy.)
External links
- The Memory Hole hosts a gallery of photographs taken from inside the US Embassy during the crisis.
- The Memory Hole 400 Pages of Still-Classified CIA and State Dept Documents Seized From the US Embassy in Tehran.
- Contemporary photograph of the embassy gates (on flickr)
- Embassy of Switzerland - Foreign Interests Section
- U.S. Department of State page for Iran