Thousands of Iranians chanted "Death to America" as they staged a mass protest Thursday against the "Great Satan" to mark the 31st anniversary of the capture of the American embassy by Islamist students.
Thousands of Iranians chanted "Death to
America
"
as they staged a mass protest Thursday against the "Great Satan" to
mark the 31st anniversary of the capture of the American embassy by Islamist students.
Tehran
, meanwhile, welcomed
Washington
's
decision to list shadowy rebel group Jundallah as a foreign terrorist
organisation, saying it is the "right" move, but reiterated its
allegation that the
U.S.
supports the Sunni network.
On Nov. 4 each year
Iran
marks
the anniversary of the capture of the
U.S.
embassy by Islamist students in
Tehran
in
1979, months after the Islamic revolution which toppled the U.S.-backed shah.
On Thursday, waving Iranian flags and carrying anti-US banners alongside posters
of
Iran
's
supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the largely young crowd also shouted
anti-Israel slogans outside the now closed
U.S.
embassy.
The embassy has remained shuttered and the
U.S.
and
Iran
have
had no diplomatic ties since then.
The students, who took 52 American diplomats hostage for 444 days, said they
were responding to
Washington
's
refusal to hand over the deposed shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
This year's anti-U.S. protest, one of the cornerstones of the Islamic regime,
came days before expected nuclear talks which will see
U.S.
and
Iranian officials sitting at the same table for discussions on
Tehran
's
controversial atomic program.
World powers led by
U.S.
suspect
Iran
's
atomic drive is aimed at making weapons, a charge denied by
Tehran
.
On Wednesday, Khamenei praised the embassy takeover 31 years ago and expressed
his distrust of
U.S.
leaders.
"This act is the symbol of courage and intrepidness of the young
revolutionary generation against the grandeur of
America
,
because the capture of the den of spies [
U.S.
embassy] destabilized the power of
America
,"
he told a gathering of students on the eve of the anniversary.
Crowds of people also hurled eggs and tomatoes at the
U.K.
's
Tehran
embassy in protest after MI6 chief John Sawers said last week espionage was key
to curbing
Iran
's
nuclear drive, state news agency IRNA reported.
Not all words directed Thursday at the
U.S.
were
hostile, however, with the Islamic republic welcoming a
Washington
decision to label Jundallah (Soldiers of God) as a foreign terrorist group.
"Fighting terrorism is a general responsibility of all nations and the
Islamic Republic of Iran in this regard considers placing [Abolmalek] Rigi's
terrorist group on the U.S. national list of terror organizations as a move in
the right direction," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.
However, he reiterated Iranian accusations that
Washington
supports the group.
The
U.S.
on
Wednesday officially designated Jundallah a foreign terrorist organization,
blaming it for a series of attacks in
Iran
.
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