Iranians Celebrate Anniversary of Embassy Takeover

TEHRAN —  Tens of thousands of Iranian students rallied outside the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran on Thursday to mark the 20th anniversary of its takeover by Islamic militants.

But the demonstration was a far cry from rallies held in previous years, when hundreds of thousands gathered to celebrate the event.

The low turnout reflects a diminishing enthusiasm for the militant fervor that drove the students to storm the embassy Nov. 4, 1979, and hold 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. It is also a clear sign of the struggle between hard-line clerics and reformist President Mohammad Khatami for control of Iran’s future.

On Wednesday, about 500 Khatami supporters held their own rally, where they demanded a new foreign policy, chanting, “In policy and diplomacy, we will deal with the United States with rationality.”

Countering the reformers, hard-liners on Thursday yelled: “We will always consider America as our enemy! We condemn those who talk in favor of dialogue with America!”

The demonstrators burned hundreds of Uncle Sam effigies amid chants of “Death to America! Death to Israel!”

The 1979 takeover of the embassy caused the United States to sever relations with Iran.

In January 1998, Khatami appealed for “a crack in the wall of mistrust” and proposed exchanges of scholars, athletes and artists. Several U.S. academics and sports teams have since visited Iran.

The embassy building is now used as a school for the paramilitary Revolutionary Guards.