Next to a banner showing Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a statue of an American hostage is placed at the former US Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, June 23, 2009. In 1979, militant Iranian students who believed the embassy was a center of plots against the Persian country held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The US severed diplomatic ties in response, and the two countries have not had formal relations since.
Section:Photo
