Iran marked the 38th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy Saturday with a ballistic missile on display as thousands marched in celebration, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, a senior Iranian official accused President Donald Trump of a “crazy” return to confrontation with Tehran, Reuters reported.
Iran and the United States severed diplomatic relations soon after the 1979 revolution that toppled the Shah, during which hardline students seized the embassy and took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
The hostages remained in captivity from Nov. 4, 1979, to Jan. 20, 1981.
Attendance for Saturday’s event appeared to be higher, Reuters reported. Last month, Trump refused to recertify Iran’s compliance in a 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers, Reuters reported.
Under the terms of the 2015 deal, most international sanctions against Iran were lifted in exchange for the Tehran government curbing its nuclear activity.
Iranians assumed a defiant tone Saturday. Iran officials have insisted that any missile programs it had was for defensive purposes and was not negotiable
“All the governments confirm that the American president is a crazy individual who is taking others toward the direction of suicide,” Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, told a rally in Tehran, state media reported.
“Trump’s policies against the people of Iran have brought them out into the streets today,” Shamkhani said.
A Ghadr ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 km was put on display near the ex-U.S. embassy in Tehran, now a cultural center, during Saturday’s street demonstration, Tasnim news agency said.
“That America thinks Iran is going to put aside its military power is a childish dream,” said Brigadier General Hossein Salami, deputy head of its elite Revolutionary Guards who oversees the missile development, according to Tasnim.
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