Forty years ago, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini spearheaded an Islamic Revolution that deposed Iran's shah. The country's authoritarian monarchy was replaced by a repressive theocracy, and almost overnight, Iran was transformed from a crucial U.S. ally to bitter foe.
In Pictures: Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution
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A padlock on the gate of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 27, 1979, with students demonstrating inside after taking control of the compound. They took 52 Americans hostage and demanded the Shah be returned to Iran. The Iran hostage crisis would last 444 days until January 1981.
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Mullahs march past Ayatollah Khomeini's house in Qom on December 17, 1979 in display of solidarity with the Iranian leader. Khomeini became Iran's Supreme Leader that month.