Iranians commemorate anniversary of 1979 US embassy takeover at time of tensions

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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranians on Tuesday celebrated the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran — the first such commemoration since the U.S. bombed Iran's nuclear facilities during a 12-day war with Israel in June.

On Nov. 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 U.S.” and “death to Israel.” Some hanged effigies of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and set fire to U.S. 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 sideline 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 normalizing 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 U.S. bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities during the conflict. Iran’s reprisal missile barrage killed 28 in Israel.

The strikes followed five rounds of talks between Iran and the U.S. over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf was the key speaker at the rally in Tehran. He accused U.S. and Israel of killing Iranian scientists because the West "opposes an independent, integrated, and powerful Iran.”

He also criticized the former U.S. embassy, calling it a “den of spies.”

The two nations have had no diplomatic relations since militant students seized the embassy in 1979 and held 52 Americans for 444 days.

Iran has withdrawn from International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring following its conflict with Israel. The country still holds a stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% purity, which is a short technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. It is largely enough to make several atomic bombs if Tehran chooses to pursue weaponization.

Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is peaceful. However, the West and the IAEA say Tehran had an organized weapons program up until 2003.

In September, the United Nations reimposed sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, further squeezing the Islamic Republic. The sanctions will again freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran, and penalize any development of Iran’s ballistic missile program, among other measures.