^* Khomeini never forgot that he was deported from his own country because of the shah’s preference for strong ties to America. The date would also come back to haunt the United States. Exactly fifteen years later, in 1979, Iranian students protesting the U.S. decision to take in the exiled shah selected the date commemorating Khomeini’s expulsion to attack the United States Embassy in Tehran. More than fifty were taken hostage. The drama dragged on for 444 days—an event that redefined America’s relations with the Islamic world long before September 11, 2001.