‘Death to America’: Iran Celebrates 37th Anniversary of U.S. Embassy Takeover

Thousands in Iran burned American flags and “chanted anti-U.S. slogans as they marked the anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by militant students 37 years ago.”

Popular slogans at the annual celebration outside the former embassy compound include, “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” The Israeli flag and Star of David were burned as well.

“The demonstrators brought by buses to the former embassy complex included young and old, university students, military staff and employees of state-run companies who voiced opposition to the nuclear deal Iran signed with the United States and world powers,” the L.A. Times reported from Tehran.

The L.A. Times notes that about ten percent of the protesters were carrying placards that quoted current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declaring, “We do not trust America.” The roads were festooned with banners quoting Khamenei’s criticisms of the nuclear agreement.

The previous day, Khamenei delivered his latest round of accusations that the United States has not kept its end of the bargain in the nuclear deal.

Revolutionary Guards acting commander Hossain Salami turned up at the embassy rally to warn, “America should know that if they do not honor their agreement in the nuclear deal, we will resume uranium enrichment.”

“Our nuclear negotiation team has worked hard, but Americans have not honored their commitments,” said a 23-year-old student at the rally.

“We are here to chant slogans, and our slogans are a strong punch in the face of America. America can never touch our country, and as our leader said, America can’t do a damn thing,” said an even more fired-up protester found by Euronews.

AFP scored an interview with one of the hostage-takers from 1979, Massoumeh Ebtekar, who is now “Iran’s vice-president and one of its most recognizable politicians, feted globally for her work as head of the environment department.”

“Revealing these documents was very similar to what WikiLeaks is doing these days. It was the WikiLeaks of those ages,” said Ebtekar, referring to the CIA documents seized during the revolution.

Ebtekar is described as “unrepentant about the hostage crisis,” but thinks relationships with the rest of the world “could have been maintained in a more rational manner,” and supports the nuclear deal.