AJ:

In November 1979, a group of Iranian students took over the United Statesembassy in Tehran. Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days, in what became the longest hostage crisis in modern history. 

The students were part of a revolution that overthrew the Shah and replaced his government with the Islamic Republic just months earlier.

Masoumeh Ebtekar, a prominent figure at the time, was both spokeswoman and translator for the students. Asked by Al Jazeera whether she has any regrets about her involvement with the hostage incident, the Iranian vice president for Women and Family Affairs remains resilient about the intention behind the students' actions.

"I don't think any of the students have any regrets because they felt that was a natural reaction. Any human being reacts to being subjugated to slavery ... being subjugated to foreign domination. Maybe the only concern or regret that they had was that it could have been resolved quicker," she says. 

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