In 1979, after Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was deposed, Dr. Yazdi returned to Iran triumphantly with the revolution’s leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, from France, where Khomeini had set up his revolutionary headquarters in exile. Dr. Yazdi served as deputy prime minister and foreign minister in the new government until Khomeini, after briefly waffling, ignored Dr. Yazdi’s advice and endorsed the takeover of the American Embassy. More than 50 Americans were seized and held as hostages for 444 days.
