Middle East/North Africa

Former US embassy in Iran turned into anti-American museum

The United States’ former embassy in Iran has been turned into an anti-American museum, a new report shows. 

The embassy, seized in 1979 by Iranian militant students, is known among hard-liners as “the nest of spies,” CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reported. She was recently taken on a tour of the embassy. 

{mosads}Outside of its entrance is a newly-installed statue of a U.S. marine with his hands up. During the height of the Iranian revolution, students stormed the embassy, which Marines had been guarding. As a result, 52 Americans were taken hostage for 444 days.  

Hard-liners painted a mural on the embassy’s inside staircase depicting their anti-American sentiment. One part of the wall shows the Statue of Liberty holding a tablet displaying a Hebrew inscription. 

The second floor has an anti-U.S. exhibit on display, which includes a life-size sculpture of the moment the embassy was under attack. The tour guides also pointed out a door that led to the CIA’s annex.

This inside-look at the former embassy comes as the U.S. continues to negotiate with Iran over its nuclear program. 

Tags Iran Iranian Revolution Iran–United States relations Presidency of Jimmy Carter

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.