| Embassy of the United States, Tehran | |
|---|---|
| Native name سفارت ایالات متحده آمریکا، تهران (Persian) | |
  | |
| Location | Tehran, Iran |
| Coordinates | 35°42′29″N51°25′26″E / 35.708°N 51.424°E /35.708; 51.424 |
  Location of Embassy of the United States, Tehran in Iran | |
TheEmbassy of the United States of America in Tehran (Persian: سفارت آمریکا در تهران) was the Americandiplomatic mission in theImperial State of Iran. Direct bilateraldiplomatic relations between the two governments were severed following theIranian Revolution in 1979, and the subsequentseizure of the embassy in November 1979.[1][2]
Theembassy was designed in 1948 by the architect Ides van der Gracht, the designer also of theEmbassy of the United States in Ankara (Republic of Turkey). It was a long, low two-story brick building, similar in architectural style to many American high schools built in the 1930s and 1940s. For this reason, the building was nicknamed "Henderson High" by the local embassy staff, referring toLoy W. Henderson (1892–1986), who became America's ambassador to the Imperial State of Iran, to its Imperial government and theShah of Iran, just after construction was completed in 1951.[3]
TheU.S. diplomatic mission has been defunct and the building has not been used by the Americans and theirUnited States Department of State since theIran hostage crisis of 1979–1980.[1][2] Since then, the United States federal government has been represented inIran to the successor Islamic Republic of Iran by theProtecting Power agreement with theUnited States Interests Section of the friendly neutralEmbassy of Switzerland in Tehran.[4] The name given to the compound by the embassy's illegal occupiers and still used by many Iranians is variously translated as the "den of spies", "espionage den," "den of espionage", and "nest of spies".[5][6][7]
After the fall and violent occupation of the American Embassy, theIslamic Revolutionary Guard Corps used it as a training center, and continue to maintain the complex.[8] The brick walls that form the perimeter (the embassy grounds are the size of a city block) feature a number ofanti-American murals commissioned by thegovernment of Iran.[8] The site has also housed a bookstore and a museum.[9]
Part of the embassy has been turned into the Den of Espionage Museum. Reconstructions of soundproof dens, spying equipment and machinery, alongside the pieced-together shredded documents make up the exhibit.[10]
Several Iranian college / university student organizations maintain offices in the former U.S. embassy complex.[11] As of January 2017, the site is open to the Iranian public and foreigners. The decorativeGreat Seal of the United States is badly damaged, but still visible overhead at the building's entryway.
TheMuslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line published documents seized in the embassy (including painstakingly reconstructed shredded documents) in a series of books called "Documents from the US Espionage Den" (Persian:اسناد لانه جاسوس امریكا,Asnād-e lāneh-e jasusi Amrikā).[12] These books included telegrams, correspondence, and reports from theUnited States Department of State andCentral Intelligence Agency, some of which remainclassified to this day.
When diplomatic relations were broken, the United States appointed Switzerland to be itsprotecting power in Iran. Informal relations are carried out through the United States Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy. Services for American citizens are limited. The section is not authorized to perform any U.S. visa/green card/immigration-related services.[11] As of 2024, U.S. visa/green card services and interviews for Iranian citizens are conducted at U.S. embassies and consulates in other locations, namelyAnkara,Dubai, andYerevan whose U.S. embassies and consulates are staffed withPersian-speaking consular officers.[13]
In February 2009, theIranian police arrested Marco Kämpf, the Swiss diplomat acting as the First Secretary of the US Interests, after finding him in a compromising position in his car with an Iranian woman he had promised to marry. He was immediately recalled to Switzerland.[14][15]
TheU.S. State Department seized the formerIranian Embassy at 3003–3005 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. in Washington, D.C. in retaliation for the invasion, seizure and occupation of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran since 1979–1980. The Iranian Interests Section for any activities in the United States, operates out of thePakistani Embassy (for theIslamic Republic of Pakistan).[16][17]
The only difference is that the Cubans have their own office, which used to be the Cuban Embassy before their 1959communist revolution, led byFidel Castro. We don't have our own office, because the State Department has kept our embassy, and likewise, the Iranian government has the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
Unlike the grand embassies of Washington, Pakistan's embassy is a nondescript brick building downtown that looks like it could house any number of commercial enterprises. Inside, the Iranian Interest Section has a cramped lobby underneath a staircase that keeps the rest of the Interest Section out of sight.
Embassies are the main entries, whileconsulates-general are shown as sub-entries for each country. A full list can be found atList of diplomatic missions of the United States. | |||
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‡ Missions which are located in countries or cities that may be considered a part of more than one continent 1 Consulates-General which function as an embassy (ie. consul reports to State Department, not the respective country's ambassador) 2 The American Institute in Taiwan is ostensibly a public, non-profit organization to promote US-Taiwanese relations, but through State Department staffing & assistance, functions as an informal US diplomatic mission. | |||
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