Iranians mark '79 seizure of embassy

Iranian schoolgirls burned an effigy of Condoleezza Rice yesterday outside the former US Embassy in Tehran. (AFP/Getty Images)

TEHRAN - Hundreds of Iranian school students bused in for the occasion crowded outside the former US Embassy yesterday, burning American flags and chanting slogans to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the building's seizure by militant Iranian students.

Equal parts unofficial school holiday and angry demonstration, the commemoration came on the eve of the US presidential election and was marked by anti-US and anti-Israel chants. Some students carried banners reading: "Islamic republic will never compromise with US" and "Takeover of US embassy was turning point in confronting American evil."

In 1979, militant Iranian students who believed the embassy was a center of plots against the Persian country held 52 Americans hostage 444 days. The United States severed diplomatic ties in response, and the two countries have not had formal relations since.

Iranians blame the CIA for helping topple the elected government of Mohammad Mosaddeq in the 1950s and blame the United States for openly supporting the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi against the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Iranians also condemn Washington for arming and supporting Saddam Hussein during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

Today, some of Iran's leaders see Barack Obama as a harbinger of much-wanted change in US policy toward their government. Iranian state radio broadcast a commentary yesterday praising the Democrat.

"Obama entered the race under the slogan of change," it said. "The American people expect their government to put aside neoconservative policy of unilateralism and return to dialogue in their dealings with the international community."

ASSOCIATED PRESS