Iran marks anniversary of U.S. embassy seizure

Iranians on Friday marked the anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran by Iranian students 32 years ago. Demonstrators gathered in front of the former U.S. embassy in Tehran, now referred to as the "Den of Espionage," carrying flags and banners and chanting slogans against the United States and Israel. They also vowed to follow the path of the late founder of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini. The demonstrators condemned the Western-imposed sanctions against Iran, saying that they still consider the United States as the country's main enemy. Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said at the ceremony on Friday that "the U.S. dream to return to Iran will never come true," referring to the recent remarks of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the United States was planning to launch a "virtual embassy" for Iran by the end of this year to assist Iranians with online access to information about U. S. visa and facilitation of study procedures in the United States. The United States has been disappointed at its failed actual presence in Iran, so it is resorting to unreal and virtual engagement with Iran's domestic affairs, Jalili said. He said that Iran has certain advantage over the United States in several areas despite the U.S. superiority in terms of technology. Jalili, who is also the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), said that Iran possesses documents which could prove that the "United States is linked with the terrorists" who have done terror acts against the Islamic Republic. With those documents Iran will sue the United State in the international courts, he said. Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that "we have one hundred undeniable documents (which prove) that the U.S. government is behind terrorist attacks in Iran and the region." Khamenei said that Tehran will reveal those documents to " disgrace the U.S. government." On Friday, Jalili slammed the U.S. attempts to disgrace Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Qods Force affiliated to IRGC, saying that the United States would not succeed in making scenario against the IRGC and the Qods Force and its commander Major General Qassem Soleimani. The tension between Tehran and Washington was escalated recently after the United States accused last month the Islamic Republic of being involved in terror plots in the U.S.. The United States said that a U.S. citizen holding both Iranian and U.S. passports and a member of the Qods Force were charged with sponsoring and promoting terrorist activities abroad, including a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States. The United States and its western allies cannot stop Iran's influence and emerging power in the region by targeting IRGC and the Qods Force, Jalili said. Friday's gathering in front of the former U.S. embassy ended with the issue of a statement which called for resistance against the U.S. and Western policies against the Islamic Republic. The statement also expressed support for the Occupy Wall Street movement in the United States and urged the United State to pull its forces completely out of Iraq. The United States cut diplomatic relations with Iran on April 7, 1980, after a group of Iranian students seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran and captured some 60 U.S. diplomats in 1979. In the hostage crisis, 52 of the U.S. diplomats were held in captivity for 444 days.