“Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days (November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981), after a group of Iranian students supporting the Iranian Revolution took over the American Embassy in Tehran. Gary Sick wrote both an editorial for The New York Times in April of 1990 and a book on the subject: In October 1980 officials in Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign made a secret deal with Iran to delay the release of the American hostages until after the election and in return for this, the U.S. purportedly arranged for Israel to ship weapons to Iran. Sick had interviewed a witness who saw members of the Reagan election team in Paris in negotiations with the Iranian government.”
http://www.cpflorida.com/2013/08/19/what-really-happened-during-the-iran-hostage-crisis/