Ben Macintyre on the Iranian embassy siege: an SAS hostage drama in London | HistoryExtra Podcast

In May 1980, TV coverage of the world snooker final was interrupted by live footage of men in black balaclavas abseiling down the walls of the Iranian Embassy in London. This was Operation Nimrod, a daring SAS plan to free dozens of hostages who'd been held captive in the building for almost a week by a group of gunmen. In his new book, bestselling author Ben Macintyre tells the story of the Iranian Embassy siege, from its roots in the Middle East to its incredibly dramatic conclusion. He spoke to Rob Attar about this defining event of Margaret Thatcher's premiership.

#HistoryExtra #history #sas

00:00 Intro
03:25 The situation in the Middle East in 1980
06:04 The motivations of the terrorists
09:13 Margaret Thatcher's views and response
12:54 The situation for the hostages
21:28 How the SAS stormed the embassy
28:09 How unprecedented was the operation?
33:13 Impact on Iran and the Middle East

[bryoned]

Very well written and researched book and fascinating interview 😊

[andrewcharley]

Does anyone know if the full original newsflash coverage is available anywhere, was an amazing event .

[NeilPearce-ibjj]

An incredibly well written account. i was 15 at the time

[roydavidson]

Was the Falklands war not a more significant part of thatchers premiership

[SD-tijc]

The SAS were not wearing balaclavas or did they have hand grenades ..after all this time you can’t get your facts right 😂😂