Tehran (Iran), Nov 4 (AP) Iranians marked the anniversary of the 1979 US Embassy takeover in Tehran on Tuesday. This commemoration was the first since the US bombed Iran's nuclear sites during a 12-day conflict with Israel in June.
On November 4, 1979, Iranian students stormed the embassy, capturing dozens of hostages, leading to a crisis that lasted over a year.
During this annual event, thousands gathered again at the downtown Tehran location, chanting slogans such as “death to US” and “death to Israel.” Participants displayed effigies of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even setting fire to US and Israeli flags.
State media reported similar demonstrations in various Iranian cities.
Mock representations of Iranian missiles were featured at the sides of the rallies, with inscriptions like “death to America.” Models of uranium enrichment centrifuges were also exhibited.
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reinforced on Monday, during a student meeting, that there would be no movement towards normalizing Washington relations soon — a message reflected on many banners at the Tuesday gatherings.
The conflict in June resulted in Israeli airstrikes killing nearly 1,100 Iranians, including military officials and nuclear scientists. Concurrently, the US bombed Iran’s nuclear installations. Iran retaliated with a missile attack that caused 28 casualties in Israel.
These events followed five rounds of dialogue between Iran and the US regarding Tehran's nuclear intentions.
In Tehran, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf addressed the rally. He accused the US and Israel of targeting Iranian scientists because of their opposition to an "independent, integrated, and powerful Iran.” Qalibaf also criticized the former US embassy, referring to it as a “den of spies.” The two nations have not held diplomatic ties since the 1979 embassy takeover when 52 Americans were held for 444 days.
Following the skirmish with Israel, Iran withdrew from International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring. It is now reported to possess a uranium stockpile enriched to 60% purity, a short technical leap to the bomb-grade 90%, sufficient for creating several nuclear weapons should Tehran decide to proceed.
While Iran maintains its nuclear program's peaceful nature, the West and the IAEA contend Tehran possessed an organized weapons initiative until 2003.
In September, the United Nations reimposed sanctions on Iran over its nuclear endeavors, intensifying the squeeze on the Islamic Republic. These sanctions freeze Iranian assets overseas, block arms trades, and penalize Iran’s ballistic missile program development efforts, among other measures. (AP) SKS SKS
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