Less than nine months after the overthrow of the last shah of Iran, a group of student supporters of the Islamic Revolution stormed the United States embassy in Tehran.
Thousands of Iranians gathered this Sunday, November 3, in the center of the capital Tehran to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the hostage-taking at the United States embassy in 1979. In front of the former American diplomatic representation, they brandished Iranian and Palestinian flags as well as those of Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shiite movement supported by the Islamic Republic.
Many of them held signs with slogans “Death to America” et “Death to Israel” in Persian and English. Since Saturday morning, state media have been broadcasting revolutionary anthems denouncing the «crimes» of the United States against the Iranian nation. “There is no difference between Biden and Trump, between the donkey and the elephant, both follow the same policy”declares one of the demonstrators, Saber Danaï, a 23-year-old construction worker, in reference to the logos of the Democratic and Republican parties.
“Death to America”
On November 4, 1979, less than nine months after the overthrow of the last shah of Iran, a group of student supporters of the Islamic Revolution stormed the United States embassy in Tehran, accused of being a “nest of spies”. Several dozen American diplomats were held hostage. To free them, the demonstrators demanded the extradition of the deposed sovereign, who had taken refuge in the United States, to be tried in Iran.
The government celebrates this event with great fanfare every year, in front of the former diplomatic representation now transformed into a museum. The capture of the American embassy is considered a founding act of the Islamic Republic, in its resistance to “global arrogance” embodied, according to Tehran, by the United States and its Western allies.
“Death to America, death to Israel!”chant thousands of demonstrators, including many schoolchildren and students, galvanized by the ambient revolutionary songs. The war in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian Hamas but also in neighboring Lebanon against Hezbollah, two movements supported financially and militarily by Tehran, crystallizes the anger of the participants.
Some of them hold up portraits of the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, or of figures of “the resistance” against Israel, including the former leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah, killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon.
“Destruction of Israel”
“I am here for the destruction of Israel and America”told AFP Mr. Hassani, a 42-year-old civil servant, who did not wish to give his full name. “Criminal America is the cause of all these wars and all this hatred” in the region, he believes, in tune with official rhetoric. Nearby, a mural depicts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu digging Israel’s grave.
Iran does not recognize the Israeli state, considered since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979 as a “usurper” in Palestine and an American outpost in the Middle East. Iranian leaders have thus made support for the Palestinian cause one of the pillars of their foreign policy. American and Israeli flags are burned and trampled, while a giant puppet representing US President Joe Biden towers over the crowd.
A portrait of his predecessor Donald Trump, who hopes to win the presidential election in the United States on Tuesday against his rival Kamala Harris, lies on the ground. “We have a problem with the American government, not the American people”underlines Saber Danaï.
Difficult relationships
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are throwing their last bit of strength into the end of the presidential campaign on Sunday, which is widely followed in Iran. The majority of Iranians present, however, have no illusions about the outcome.
“Relations between Iran and America cannot return to normal”assures Ms. Mohammadi, a 40-year-old housewife. “We have repeatedly shown America our honesty” to improve relationships “but America didn’t care”insists the woman covered in a black chador.
Iran, subject to significant international sanctions, signed an agreement in 2015 with the major powers to limit its nuclear program. The text, signed in particular with the United States, provided in return for a gradual lifting of sanctions. But the pact was torpedoed three years later when former US President Donald Trump withdrew from it and reimposed sanctions.
