Iran commemorated Tuesday the 46th anniversary of the 1979 US Embassy hostage seizure in Tehran with official demonstrations throughout the country, the first since the conflict with Israel and American military strikes. The rallies displayed defiant anti-American and anti-Israeli rhetoric as tensions persist between Tehran and Washington.
The Tehran demonstration exhibited models of Iranian ballistic missiles and nuclear centrifuges near the former US Embassy location, alongside hanging dummies portraying President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with "Death to America" written on them. State television aired segments depicting people costumed as Netanyahu and Trump.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf delivered the keynote address at the Tehran rally, stating that the anniversary represents Iran's resolve to remain independent and oppose what he termed foreign power control. He declared the nation's independence "will not be sold for any concession," and the "Death to America" slogan signifies "rejection of hegemony, not hostility toward the American people."
Former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezaei stated on the demonstration's margins, "The Iranian people say to America and Israel: We are standing with all our strength, we are your rivals and the Iranian flag will not come down." He continued, "They (Israel and the US) are like mad dogs that when they are afraid they start to bark."
On November 4, 1979, hundreds of Iranian students invaded the US Embassy in Tehran and captured 66 Americans, 52 of whom remained hostages for 444 days. The event followed President Jimmy Carter's decision to permit Iran's ousted Shah to travel to New York for cancer treatment. The hostages gained freedom on January 20, 1981, minutes following Ronald Reagan's swearing-in as US president, through an accord between Tehran and Washington, and diplomatic relations between the two nations were cut after the incident.
