US President Carter imposed sanctions against Iran in November 1979 after radical students seized the US Embassy in Tehran and took hostages, after the US permitted the exiled Shah of Iran to enter the US for medical treatment. froze about US$8.1 billion in Iranian assets, including bank deposits, gold and other properties. It also imposed a trade embargo. The sanctions were lifted in January 1981 as part of the Algiers Accords, which was a negotiated settlement of the hostages’ release.