Iran held state-organized rallies on Sunday to commemorate the 1979 takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran. In the capital, crowds gathered at the former embassy, chanting slogans such as “death to America” and “death to Israel.”
Demonstrators carried images of prominent figures from Iran’s allied militant groups, including Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. The gathering marked 45 years since radical students seized the embassy shortly after the fall of Iran’s U.S.-backed Shah, taking over 50 diplomats hostage for 444 days and setting the tone for the enduring tensions between Tehran and Washington.
The anniversary came a day after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned of a “crushing response” to the U.S. and Israel, following an Israeli airstrike on Iranian military facilities on October 26. With the U.S. announcing additional military deployments to the Middle East on Friday, fears of escalating regional conflict continue to grow.
