in november 1979, a group of iranian students took over the united states embassy in tehran. the students were in support of the iranian revolution. 52 americans were held hostage for the next 444 days until they were freed on january 20, 1981. they were freed on the day ronald reagan replaced carter as president. during the crisis, carter never left the white house for more than 100 days. in december 1979, carter said he wanted to solve the issue without using the military or violence. on april 7, 1980, carter passed executive order 12205, adding economic sanctions against iran and announced more action to make sure the hostages were released safely. on april 24, 1980, carter pushed for operation eagle claw to try to free the hostages. the mission failed as military helicopters crashed killing eight american military people.