Have you see the movie Argo? About the Iran hostage crisis? When I was in Iran in 2018 we naturally went to Tehran. We arrived after dark, but just as we were approaching the hotel, Ramona, our Farsi-speaking Russian guide, pointed out the old American embassy, which turned out to be just around the corner from the hotel. You could just make out all these images and graffiti on the walls. I immediately set up a clamour to go and see it. Iranian guide Ali might have mentioned that our itinerary was already set for the next day, but I was perfectly happy to give up on yet another Shia mosque or shrine or temple or whatever to look at a site of one of the most momentous historic events in 20th-century history.

It was in November 1979. Fifty-three American diplomats and citizens were taken hostage in Iran after a group of armed Iranian college students, supporters of the Iranian Revolution against Shah Reza Pahlavi (including several men who later became part of the ruling regime) stormed the embassy. A small group of six managed to escape out the back and took refuge in the Canadian Embassy before eventually being rescued by CIA operatives who got into Iran pretending to be a Canadian film crew.

There was a young man out the front offering to give us a guided tour. I can’t remember exactly how much he asked for but it was peanuts.

The best thing was, the embassy was left exactly as it was when the Americans left in 1979. Note the old technology.

Note the helpful signs explaining what the American imperialists were up too.

This was the most interesting place we visited, and it wasn’t on the official itinerary. The young guide, and our guide Ali and the other Iranians we met, gave no impression that they shared the virulent anti-American views expressed here.