Iranian people gather to mark the anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. Embassy, in Tehran, Iran
Iranians chanting "Death to America" rallied on Sunday to mark both the anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. Embassy during the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the imminent reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Iran's key oil sector.
Thousands of students in the government-organised rally in the capital Tehran, broadcast live by state television, burned the Stars and Stripes, an effigy of Uncle Sam and pictures of President Donald Trump outside the leafy downtown compound that once housed the U.S. mission.
Hardline students stormed the embassy on Nov. 4, 1979 soon after the fall of the U.S.-backed Shah, and 52 Americans were held hostage there for 444 days. The two countries have been enemies, on opposite sides of Middle East conflict, ever since.
Iranian demonstrators took part in an anti-US rally in front of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 04, 2018, marking the 39th anniversary of the US embassy takeover.
Iranians rally in Tehran to mark 39th anniv. of US Embassy takeover
Iranian state media said millions turned out for rallies in most cities and towns around the country, swearing allegiance to the clerical establishment and its hardline top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The turnout figure could not be independently confirmed by Reuters.
Rallies replete with "Death to America" chants are staged on the embassy takeover anniversary every year. But U.S.-Iranian rancour is especially strong this time round following Trump's decision in May to withdraw the United States from world powers' 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose sanctions on Tehran.
Iran called on Saturday for European assurances of support in the face of Washington's intent to reimpose sanctions on vital Iranian oil sales to force Tehran to curb its nuclear, missile and regional activities.Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif spoke by telephone with the European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, and his counterparts from Germany, Sweden and Denmark about European measures to counter the U.S. sanctions, the Iranian state news agency IRNA reported."Mogherini and the European ministers ... highlighted the importance of the finance ministers' commitment to Europe's financial mechanism to save the Iran nuclear deal and said the mechanism will be operational in the coming days," IRNA said.Washington will reapply far-reaching sanctions on Iran's petroleum and banking sectors starting on Monday.Diplomats told Reuters last week that the new EU mechanism to facilitate payments for Iranian exports should be legally in place by Nov. 4, when the next phase of U.S. sanctions hit, but will not be operational until early next year.The EU, France, Germany and Britain, said in a joint statement on Friday they regretted U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to restore sanctions on Iran, the world's No. 3 oil ezporter."Our aim is to protect European economic actors who have legitimate commercial exchanges with Iran, in line with European legislation and the United Nations' Security Council resolution 2231," Mogherini and the foreign ministers and finance ministers of the three countries said in their statement.The three biggest European powers are co-signatories, along with Russia and China, to an international 2015 deal with Iran that reined in its nuclear work in exchange for the lifting of most international sanctions on Tehran.With the sanctions clampdown, Trump is seeking to push Iran into stricter curbs on its nuclear programme and a halt to its missile development activity and support for proxy forces in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East.Trump denounced the nuclear deal, signed before he took office, as flawed in Iran's favour and withdrew Washington from the pact in May.Meanwhile, Iranian state television reported that the Islamci Republic had started production of the locally-designed Kowsar fighter plane for use in its air force. Iran has no concerns over reimposition of new US sanctions: ministry officialIranian planes refused fuel in TurkeyUS oil sanctions on Iran threaten 'paralyzed' economyIran says report of US oil waivers shows market needs Iranian crude
Iran seeks European assurances as US oil sanctions loom
Iran's top leader said on Saturday U.S. President Donald Trump's policies face opposition across the world as Washington prepared to reimpose sanctions on Iran's vital oil-exporting and financial sectors, state television reported.Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also said Iran's arch-adversary the United States had failed to reassert its domination over Iran since the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed Shah."The world opposes every decision made by Trump," Iranian state television quoted Khamenei as saying during a meeting with thousands of students."America's goal has been to re-establish the domination it had (before 1979) but it has failed. America has been defeated by the Islamic Republic over the past 40 years."Iran seeks European assurances as US oil sanctions loomWashington will on Monday reintroduce far-reaching sanctions on Iran's vital oil sales and banking sectors to try to force the Islamic Republic into negotiations to scrap its nuclear energy and ballistic missile programmes and end its support for proxies in conflicts across the Middle East.However, the Trump administration said on Friday that eight importing countries would temporarily be allowed to keep buying Iranian oil when sanctions come back into effect. Iran is the world's No. 3 oil exporter.Turkey said on Saturday that Ankara had received initial indications from Washington that it would be granted a waiver, but is awaiting clarification on Monday.Most international sanctions on Iran were lifted in early 2016 under a deal Iran signed with world powers the year before under which it curbed its uranium enrichment programme, widely seen abroad as a disguised effort to develop an atomic bomb.Iran starts mass-producing local fighter jetIranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif spoke by telephone with the European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, and his counterparts from Germany, Sweden and Denmark about European measures to counter the U.S. sanctions, the Iranian state news agency IRNA reported."Mogherini and the European ministers ... highlighted the importance of the finance ministers' commitment to Europe's financial mechanism to save the Iran nuclear deal and said the mechanism will be operational in the coming days," IRNA said.Diplomats told Reuters last week that the new EU mechanism to facilitate payments for Iranian exports should be legally in place by Nov. 4, when the next phase of U.S. sanctions hit, but will not be operational until early next year.The EU, France, Germany and Britain - all co-signatories, along with Russia and China, to the nuclear deal with Iran - said in a joint statement on Friday they regretted Trump's decision to restore sanctions on Iran.With the sanctions clampdown, Trump is seeking to push Iran to end uranium enrichment outright, and halt its ballistic missile development and support for proxy forces in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East."Iran ... will not permit the Trump regime, which has made American foreign policy devoid of any principles, to reach its illegitimate goals," the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by IRNA.Trump denounced the nuclear deal, approved by his predecessor Barack Obama, as flawed in Iran's favour and withdrew Washington from the pact in May.
Iran's Khamenei says the world opposes Trump's decisions
The deal brought about the lifting of most international financial and economic sanctions on Iran in return for Tehran curbing its disputed nuclear activity under U.N. surveillance.
The restoration of U.S. sanctions on Monday targeting Iran's oil sales and banking sectors is part of a wider effort by Trump to force Tehran to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes outright as well as support for proxy forces in conflicts across the Middle East.
The top commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, said at the Tehran rally that Iran would resist and defeat a U.S. "psychological war" and the return of U.S. sanctions, meant to cripple the Islamic Republic's oil exports and financial institutions.
"America has launched an economic and psychological war as a last resort ... But America's plots and its plans for sanctions will be defeated through continued resistance," said Jafari.
In a speech on Saturday, Khamenei said Trump's policies faced opposition around the world. "America's goal has been to re-establish the domination it had (before 1979) but it has failed. America has been defeated by the Islamic Republic over the past 40 years," he said.
The top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, said on Sunday Iran would resist and defeat a U.S. “psychological war” and sanctions against its vital oil sector.“America has launched an economic and psychological war as a last resort ... But America’s plots and its plans for sanctions will be defeated through continued resistance,” Jafari said at a rally marking the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, which was broadcast live on state television.UAE blames Iran's 'aggressive policies' for US sanctionsIran seeks European assurances as US oil sanctions loomIran's Khamenei says the world opposes Trump's decisions
Guards chief says Iran will resist, defeat US sanctions