AFP and Europa Press
La Jornada Newspaper
Monday, November 4, 2024, p. 27
Tehran. Thousands of people gathered yesterday in the capital of Iran, in front of the building that housed the US embassy, to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the assault on that legation and the subsequent hostage crisis.
Protesters burned Israeli and American flags, while chanting Death to Israel, death to the United States! in front of the old diplomatic headquarters that is now the Lair of Spies museum.
On November 4, 1979, nine months after the overthrow of Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi, a group of students in favor of the Islamic revolution attacked the diplomatic representation in Tehran.
The students held 52 headquarters employees hostage for 444 days to demand that Washington extradite the ousted monarch, who was a staunch ally of the West when he ruled and who was being treated for cancer in the United States.