45 years after the hostage taking at the American embassy in Tehran, thousands of Iranians demonstrate against the United States and Israel. Portraits of trampled leaders, hostile slogans… Tensions remain high despite the years. What future for Iranian-American relations?
On this Sunday, November 4, the streets of Tehran resonate with the cries of thousands of demonstrators chanting “Death to America, death to Israel!”. Flags on fire, portraits of American and Israeli leaders trampled on the ground… 45 years after the hostage-taking at the American embassy, resentment remains intact. This founding event of the Islamic Republic of Iran continues to crystallize tensions with “global arrogance” embodied by the United States according to Tehran.
The specter of the hostage crisis still looms
On November 4, 1979, less than nine months after the overthrow of the last Shah of Iran, student supporters of the Islamic Revolution stormed the American embassy, described as a “nest of spies”. Several dozen diplomats were held hostage for 444 days, with demonstrators demanding the extradition of the deposed sovereign who had taken refuge in the United States. More than four decades later, the former diplomatic representation, transformed into a museum, remains a symbol proudly brandished by the regime.
Anti-American and anti-Israeli rhetoric still virulent
In the crowd of demonstrators, we can see many schoolchildren and students, galvanized by the revolutionary songs. “There is no difference between Biden and Trump, between the donkey and the elephant, both follow the same policy,” says Saber Danaï, a young worker, in reference to the logos of the Democratic and Republican parties. Current tensions in the Middle East, with the war in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian Hamas or the clashes in neighboring Lebanon involving Hezbollah, two movements supported by Tehran, are fueling the anger of the participants.
Criminal America is the cause of all these wars and all this hatred.
M. Hassani, manifest
Iran does not recognize the State of Israel, considered a “usurper” in Palestine and an American outpost in the Middle East since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. Support for the Palestinian cause is thus a pillar of Iranian foreign policy.
American presidential election: few illusions on the Iranian side
Two days before a closely followed American presidential election in Iran, the demonstrators have few illusions. “Relations between Iran and America cannot return to normal,” assures Ms. Mohammadi, a housewife. Despite the signing of an Iranian nuclear agreement in 2015, providing for a gradual lifting of sanctions in exchange for a limitation of the nuclear program, relations remain tense. The unilateral withdrawal of the United States from this agreement in 2018 under the presidency of Donald Trump and the reestablishment of heavy sanctions dampened hopes of normalization.
While candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump throw their last forces into the electoral battle, on the Iranian side, we seem resigned. “It doesn’t matter who the next American president is […] We never liked any of them and that won’t change now,” says a protester. The future of Iranian-American relations therefore promises to be as complicated as ever, whoever takes the White House for the next four years. Distrust remains on both sides, against a backdrop of heightened regional tensions and painful memories that will not fade.
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