TEHERAN - IRAN marks on Wednesday the 30th anniversary of the seizure of the US embassy with a traditional anti-American demonstration, with security forces bracing for possible street protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The anniversary, which has turned into a cornerstone of the Islamic regime, comes a day after Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lashed out at Washington over a vital nuclear fuel deal for Teheran.
Thousands of Iranians, mostly students, traditionally gather each year outside the former embassy building, dubbed the 'Den of Spies,' to chant the slogans 'Death to America!' and 'Death to Israel!'
The event marks the capture by radical Islamist students of the city-centre compound on November 4, 1979 - just months after the Islamic revolution toppled the US-backed shah.
The students, who took 52 American diplomats hostage and held them for 444 days, said they were responding to Washington's refusal to hand over the deposed shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
This year, authorities have gone on the alert to ensure that the event is not marred by protests against Mr Ahmadinejad, whose June 12 re-election triggered the worst political crisis in the 30-year history of the Islamic republic. -- AFP
