Frozen in time: The eery U.S embassy in Iran where screaming mob held 52 citizens hostage in 1979 is now a museum that opens just a few days a year It was site of worst hostage crisis in US history when revolutionary students stormed in and took 52 staff hostage Of 90 people inside, six managed to escape and flee to other embassies, as dramatised in Oscar-winning film Argo The captured hostages were paraded around in front of cameras and kept in captivity for 444 days Today, the building is still the stage for demonstrations and the walls are covered with anti-US and Israeli murals It was a symbol of U.S. supremacy that became a prison cell for 52 Americans. Now the hallways of the U.S embassy in Tehran, abandoned after it was stormed by a screaming mob during the 1979 hostage crisis, echo to nothing but the sound of soldiers' training boots. The rooms where secret state missions were planned have been covered in graffiti and pictures of Iranian revolutionaries have been casually propped against typewriters left behind by embassy workers. But apart from the most minor of cosmetic changes, the building that caused a global diplomatic crisis is frozen in time - and looks almost identical to its portrayal in the Oscar-winning Ben Affleck movie Argo. Art as protest: An Iranian Journalist climbs the stairs inside the former US embassy in downtown Tehran. Painted on the walls are anti-American murals Pictures and equipment of Americans are seen inside the former embassy which hit the headlines in late 1979 when revolutionary students stormed in and took dozens of US staff hostage The embassy garnered worldwide attention in November 1979 when revolutionary students stormed in and took dozens of US staff hostage. Thousands of other protesters pressed around the compound, responding to a call by the country's new leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, to attack US and Israeli interests. Of the 90 people in the compound, six Americans managed to escape the building and flee to other embassies. It was those six that inspired the film Argo directed by and starring Ben Affleck which spins the account of a joint Hollywood-CIA mission to spring the Americans from revolutionary Iran, using a fake movie production as a decoy. Other non-US citizens captured when the embassy was seized were released. But 66 were captured, including three seized at the Foreign Ministry, and held hostage for 444 days. The students paraded the blindfolded hostages for the cameras to humiliate the "Great Satan" that Washington had become in the eyes of the Iranian revolutionary leaders. They demanded that the Shah of Iran be expelled from the US, where he had been taken for cancer treatment after he was overthrown. Stark: A woman walks into the former U.S. embassy in downtown Tehran, Iran. The United States broke off diplomatic relations with Iran on April 7, 1980 after a group of Iranian students captured some 60 US diplomats The building is now occupied by the Revolutionary Guard and houses a museum that is only open a few days a year An Iranian staff member stands inside the former US embassy. The walls of are filled with murals and slogans depicting the evil of America and its allies, particularly Israel It was a shocking and demoralising sight for the US public - the beginning of a long standoff between the US and militant Muslims that has lasted until today. Freeing the hostages became a priority for the administration of US President Jimmy Carter - but nothing could be done apart from enforcing ineffective economic sanctions. Mr Carter pledged to preserve the lives of the hostages and conducted intense diplomacy to secure their release. But his failure ultimately contributed to his losing the presidency to Ronald Reagan in 1980. Two weeks into the crisis, Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the release of 13 female and black hostages, mostly clerical staff and members of the marine guard who guard US embassies around the world. Another hostage, vice consul Richard Queen, was released in July 1980 after falling ill with multiple sclerosis. But the remaining 52 were deprived of their freedom for 444 days. In February 1980 Iran issued a new set of demands for the hostages' freedom. It called for the Shah to be handed over to face trial in Tehran, as well as other diplomatic gestures, such as a US apology for its actions. Protest: Iranian students burn the American Flag outside the the US Embassy in Tehran Hostages: American embassy staff were blindfolded and taken hostage when militants stormed the embassy compound in Tehran in November 1979 President Carter rejected the demands, but was about to make the crisis considerably worse with an ill-conceived rescue mission. A daring US military rescue operation codenamed Eagle Claw ended in further US humiliation in April 1980. The plan was to land aircraft covertly in the desert allowing special forces to infiltrate Tehran and free the 52 hostages. But the planning was flawed, and the mission had to be aborted when two helicopters were damaged in a sandstorm and failed to reach the meeting point. Worse was to come when another crashed into a transport plane as it was pulling out. Eight US personnel lost their lives. Some of their bodies were taken through the streets of Tehran during massive protests. Secret operational documents were also discovered in the wreckage and put on display for the international media. Dramatic: Iranian students climb over the wall of the US embassy in Tehran just before the hostage crisis, in which 52 Americans were held hostages for 444 days in 1979 Inside and armed: Taken by an Iranian student, this picture shows a kidnapper inside the US embassy at the very beginning of the hostage crisis Fear: American hostages sit in a corridor, blindfolded so they cannot see the faces of their kidnappers 'Down with imperialism': Press conference inside the US embassy held by the Iranian student kidnappers. It called for the Shah to be handed over to face trial in Tehran, as well as other diplomatic gestures, such as a US apology for its actions Trouble to come: Kidnappers hold discussions. President Carter rejected the demands, but was about to make the crisis considerably worse with an ill-conceived rescue mission And to avert any other rescue efforts, the student hostage-takers at the embassy split up their captives and spread them around Iran. After months of negotiations, helped by Algerian intermediaries and the Shah's death, US diplomacy bore fruit. On the day of President Ronald Reagan's inauguration, 20 January 1981, the hostages were set free. A day later they arrived at a US Air Force base in West Germany. In return the US had agreed to unfreeze Iranian assets worth US$8billion and give hostage takers immunity. Today, the embassy is still the stage for angry anniversary demonstrations in which protesters chant anti-US and Israeli slogans and burn flags and effigies. Designed in 1948 by the architect Ides van der Gracht, it is a long, low two-storey brick building, and bears a resemblance to American high schools built in the 1930s and 1940s. For this reason, the building was nicknamed 'Henderson High' by the embassy staff, referring to Loy W. Henderson, who became America's ambassador to Iran just after construction was completed in 1951 Showing off: One of the hostages, blindfolded and with his hands bound, is displayed to crowds outside the US Embassy in 1979. A day later they arrived at a US Air Force base in West Germany Early demonstrations: Even today, the embassy is still the stage for angry anniversary demonstrations in which protesters chant anti-US and Israeli slogans and burn flags and effigies Now the 15-feet walls of the compound are filled with murals and slogans depicting the evil of America and its allies, particularly Israel. One illustration has a satanic skull instead of the Statue of Liberty's face. Another shows a black hand wearing the flags of the US and Israel as wristbands and clutching a globe in its talons; the inscription, from the Islamic republic's founder, Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, reads, "The United States is regarded as the most hated government in the world." The former Supreme Leader declares in other panels that the U.S. is "too weak to do anything" and refers to the U.S. government as a "dictatorship." In case the message has not gotten through, visitors who exit the nearby subway station are immediately faced with a hard-to-miss sign: "Death to USA." Outside the door, meanwhile, stands a bronze model based on New York's Statue of Liberty on the left-hand side. While tourists do stop and stare inside, the place is not open for sightseeing and the Iranian government uses the compound to train members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Crisis: Ben Affleck, in his role as a CIA agent, talks to the hostages that escaped from the US embassy Starring role: Ben Affleck starred as a CIA agent in the film Argo, about the crisis which won the Oscar for Best Picture at this year's Academy Awards Soldiers with AK-47s patrol the brick wall from guard posts poised above the metal fences or elevated walkways, and closed-circuit television cameras monitor the perimeter. The old embassy, maintained by the Revolutionary Guards, is still very indicative of the official anti-American stance of the government. But today that policy is increasingly in conflict with popular attitudes. Evidence of an appetite for western consumer goods can be seen along the capitals shopping boulevard where among the shops are Banana Republic, Tommy Hilfiger and Polo Ralph Lauren. And, many Iranians see immigration to the US and Europe as a way to escape the repressive regime. VIDEO Watch Argo trailer here...