The early days of the revolutionary government were characterized by political tumult. In November 1979 the US embassy was seized and its occupants taken hostage and kept captive for 444 days because of support of the US government for the King of Iran. The eight-year Iran–Iraq War killed hundreds of thousands and cost the country billions of dollars. By mid-1982, power struggles eliminated first the center of political spectrum and then the Republicans leaving the revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini and his supporters in power.