At 11.32 on a cold morning in London early last year six young men, who had been on a spending spree and had mailed 203 lb of women's cocktail dresses, children's toys and ties back to Baghdad, entered and took over the Iranian Embassy in Princes Gate. It was not immediately clear who they were or why they were there, but soon Scotland Yard learnt that behind the stuccoed facade overlooking Hyde Park there were 19 hostages, among them a British policeman.

LRB 5 February 1981 | PDF Download