A mob of over 1,500 Pakistani rioters burned the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, killing four, after Khomeini falsely blamed the U.S. for the Grand Mosque seizure.
Key Facts
- Date of attack
- 21 November 1979
- Deaths (embassy personnel)
- 4 people
- Rioters killed (retaking)
- 2 people
- Rioters injured (retaking)
- up to 70 people
- Estimated mob size
- over 1,500 people
- Duration of riot
- almost 24 hours
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini falsely announced over Iranian radio that the United States and Israel had orchestrated the ongoing Grand Mosque seizure in Mecca. This broadcast, made during the Iran hostage crisis, inflamed anti-American sentiment across the Muslim world and directly incited riots in Pakistan, led by Islamists aligned with Jamaat-i-Islami and students from Quaid-i-Azam University.
Beginning at noon on 21 November 1979, a mob of more than 1,500 people stormed and burned the U.S. embassy in Islamabad over nearly 24 hours. Rioters took American diplomats hostage, intending show trials and executions. Four embassy personnel died. Pakistani president Zia-ul-Haq was slow to act despite a direct call from President Carter, and the Pakistan Army only moved to retake the compound by the morning of 22 November.
Khomeini publicly praised the Pakistani rioters, and the attack bolstered his Islamic Revolution's export propaganda. Zia condemned the burning while avoiding direct criticism of his political ally Jamaat-i-Islami. American cultural centers in Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi were also attacked, deepening strain in U.S.-Pakistan relations during an already volatile period in the region.