Iranians mark US embassy takeover

Rallies marking the 30th anniversary of the US Embassy takeover in Tehran have started in capital Tehran as well as other cities across the country.

Tens of thousands of people from all walks of life and many political persuasions have staged a rally at the site of the former US embassy in Tehran, better known in Iranian history as the 'Den of Spies'.

November 4 marks three important events in Iranian history: the takeover of the former US embassy in Tehran by Muslim students following the Imam's line in 1979 and the exile of the late Founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini by the deposed Shah in 1964.

The declaration of the day as the Students Day, however, is overridingly in remembrance of several students martyred in 1978 while taking part in a protest against the Shah.

Since the 1979 takeover of the US embassy in Tehran, Iranians have been celebrating the occasion every year by holding rallies on the anniversary and marking it as the National Day against the 'Global Arrogance'.

People carried placards expressing their hatred of the bullying of arrogant powers and the US in particular. They also chanted slogans against the United States and Israel.

In 1979, Iranian university students took over the building to thwart what they called Washington's plots against the Islamic Revolution that was only a few months old at the time.

Inside the embassy, the students found shredded documents which proved their convictions.

Meanwhile, small groups of supporters of defeated presidential candidates also held a rally in central Tehran on Wednesday.

The protesters gathered in Haft-e-Tir square, which leads to the former US embassy compound. The protesters chanted slogans against the government.

Police later dispersed the anti-government demonstrators.