Thousands of Iranians chanting "Death to America" rallied on Sunday to mark the anniversary of the seizure of the US Embassy during the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the imminent reimposition of US sanctions on Iran's oil sector.
Students attending 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 former embassy compound. Hardline students stormed the embassy on Nov. 4, 1979, soon after the fall of the US-backed shah, and 52 Americans were held hostage there for 444 days. The two countries have been enemies ever since.
State media said millions turned out for rallies in towns and cities, swearing allegiance to the clerical establishment and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The figure could not be independently confirmed by Reuters.
Rallies are staged on the embassy takeover anniversary every year. But rancour is especially strong this time following Trump's decision in May to withdraw from world powers' 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose sanctions on Tehran. The deal brought about the lifting of most international financial and economic sanctions in return for Tehran curbing its disputed nuclear activity under U.N. surveillance.
Trump said the deal was weak and favoured Iran. The other signatories - Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - remain committed to the accord. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the penalties set to return on Monday "are the toughest sanctions ever put in place on the Islamic Republic of Iran." Interviewed on "Fox News Sunday," Pompeo said, "There's a handful of places where countries already have made significant reductions in their crude oil exports and need a little more time to get to zero. And we're going to provide that to them." He did not elaborate.
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