The process began in early November, but by the time the last commercial flights were still operating, a handful of Israelis were instructed to stay. David Nachshol, a security guard at the Israeli Embassy, said they were told they could not leave as long as El Al continued<\/a> flying to Tehran. \u201cYou don\u2019t leave a Muslim country,\u201d he was told. \u201cYou just don\u2019t leave.\u201d<\/p>\n As unrest intensified, embassy security personnel were sent into the streets in civilian clothes to monitor developments. Nachshol described scenes of brutal repression, with Iranian security forces firing directly into crowds from concealed positions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou saw people falling,\u201d he said, recalling the peak of the violence in the spring and summer of 1978.<\/p>\n The situation deteriorated further as revolutionary forces consolidated control. At the same time, dozens of Americans were taken hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, marking the start of what would become the Iran hostage crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n Segev recounted a chilling phone call from Iran\u2019s then\u2013Chief of Staff, General Abbas Gharabaghi, who informed him that the Iranian army had decided to remain neutral in the uprising and would withdraw protection from the Israeli Embassy. \u201cYou are abandoning us,\u201d Segev replied.<\/p>\nThe last Israeli in Iran: how to get out of Tehran alive <\/p>\n