Massive rallies marks 1979 U.S. embassy seizure in Iran

Iran on Saturday held the heavily choreographed pageant of anti-Americanism that marks the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran as relations with President Donald Trump's administration worsen and the fate of its nuclear agreement with world powers is unresolved.

A crowd chanted "Death to Israel" and "Down with the U.S." during the celebration.

On Tuesday, the head of the Revolutionary Guard said Iran's supreme leader had restricted the range of ballistic missiles manufactured in the country to 2,000 kilometres - limiting their reach to only regional targets. It was the first time Iran displayed a missile during the annual gathering. The rally, which commemorates the students who led the takeover of the building on September 3, 1979, also served as a unified denouncement of US -imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

According to reports, some marchers held signs featuring derogatory caricatures of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Since the Islamic Revolution's victory in 1979, the Iranian nation has held the record in foiling USA plots and humiliating American statesmen, Shamkhani said.

Speaking about the students who stormed the USA embassy, Iran's former chief delegate to the United Nations, Rajaie-Khorassani said, "I don't know if the intention of these boys is to prevent any movement toward the United States, but it is one of the inevitable consequences".

Mr Trump refused to recertify the 2015 landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in October and the United States has imposed more sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile programme. Under that deal, most global sanctions on Iran were lifted in exchange for Tehran curbing nuclear activity.

In an address to the Saturday rally in Tehran, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said that the US's foreign policy had failed.

Anti-Iran measures adopted by the USA have strengthened the Iranian nation's power, Shamkhani said on Saturday.

The former USA embassy in Tehran is now a cultural centre but stands as a symbol of a United States defeat for many Iranians. He called the United States the "eternal enemy" of Iran. Many Iranians call it the "den of spies".