TV-MA | 4 episodes | Documentary | Sept. 28, 2022
Jacques Mallet du Pan famously wrote of the French Revolution, “like Saturn, the Revolution devours its children.” That is equally true of Iran’s 1979 Revolution. Few Iranians wanted to be ruled by a theocratic regime, but the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini shrewdly exploited the international crisis to shape the new government and install himself as its supreme leader.
Both the American hostages and the Iranian hostage-takers look back on the extended ordeal in the four-part documentary “Hostages,” which premieres on HBO.
An American hostage being paraded before the cameras by his Iranian captors. (MPI/Getty Images)
The first episode is largely dedicated to explaining the complicated relationship America shared with Iran, particularly our involvement in the 1953 coup and our long-standing support of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, without mentioning the American government’s successful efforts pressuring the Soviets to withdraw from their occupation of Iran after World War II….