TEHRAN – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a tweet Sunday marked the 40th anniversary of the end of the Iran hostage crisis, but critics were quick to point out a problem-he had managed to get his numbers and dates wrong and the crisis had not even begun 40 years ago.

“40 years ago today, extremists in Iran released 52 American diplomats they held hostage for 444 days,” Pompeo’s tweet said.

Later on Sunday, Pompeo deleted the tweet and replaced it with a message that read “38 years ago today, extremists in Iran released 52 American diplomats they held hostage for 444 days.”

MH/PA