Iranians on Tuesday celebrated the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran — the first such commemoration since the US bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities during a 12-day war with Israel in June. On November 4, 1979, Iranian students overran guards to take over the embassy, seizing dozens of hostages in a crisis that would last for more than a year. In what is a yearly commemoration, thousands of people returned to the spot in downtown Tehran on Tuesday, chanting “death to US” and “death to Israel.” Some hanged effigies of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and set fire to US and Israeli flags.
State media said similar gatherings took place in other Iranian cities and towns. Mock-ups of Iranian missiles were on display on the sidelines of the rallies, some inscribed with the words “death to America.” Replicas of centrifuge machines used in uranium enrichment were also on show. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, vowed Monday during a meeting with students that there would be no move toward normalising ties with Washington soon— a message echoed on banners at Tuesday’s rallies.
Israel’s airstrikes during the war in June killed nearly 1,100 Iranians, including military commanders and nuclear scientists. The US bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities during the conflict. Iran’s reprisal missile barrage killed 28 in Israel. strikes followed five rounds of talks between Iran and the US over Tehran’s nuclear program. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf was the key speaker at the rally in Tehran. He accused the US and Israel of killing Iranian scientists because the West "opposes an independent, integrated, and powerful Iran.” He also criticised the former US embassy, calling it a “den of spies.”
