TEHRAN, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Iranians rallied across the country on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the U.S. embassy, amid heightened tensions with the United States and Israel.
Crowds gathered in cities including the capital Tehran, where demonstrators marched from Palestine Square to the former U.S. embassy, waving Iranian flags and chanting slogans against the United States and Israel. Many carried portraits of Iranians killed in the 12-day conflict with Israel in June.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf told the crowd the anniversary symbolized the day Iranians "loudly and unitedly" rejected oppression, according to the state news agency IRNA.
He said Iran would continue to resist pressure from the United States, emphasizing that the country would not trade its independence for anything.
The event commemorates Nov. 4, 1979, when Iranian students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and seized dozens of hostages in a standoff that lasted more than a year.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Monday that the incident revealed Washington's "true identity," alleging that documents taken from the embassy showed it was "a center for plotting" against Iran's Islamic Revolution. ■
