U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has pointed to the historic hostage crisis that followed Iran’s Islamic Revolution as evidence of the long-standing hostility between Tehran and Washington.
Cruz, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, made the remarks during an interview on Fox News on Thursday, March 13, 2026, while discussing the security threats posed by Iran and its regional influence.
Reflecting on the origins of the Iranian revolutionary government, Cruz said the seizure of American diplomats in Tehran marked the first major act carried out by the new leadership after the revolution.
“When the Ayatollah Khamenei came in, the very first thing they did to launch the Revolution was take Americans hostage and hold them hostage for 444 days,” Cruz said during the broadcast.
The senator was referring to the Iran Hostage Crisis, which began in November 1979 when militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held dozens of American diplomats and citizens captive for 444 days.
The crisis became one of the most significant confrontations between the United States and Iran, shaping decades of strained diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Cruz argued that the episode illustrates what he described as the ideological foundation of the Iranian regime and its adversarial posture toward the United States since the revolution.
His comments come amid heightened tensions in the Middle East and renewed debate in Washington over the scope of U.S. policy toward Iran and its leadership.