Published 23:29 IST, November 4th 2019
Iranians chant 'Death to America' as they marked US Embassy takeover
Several thousand of Iranians marched on the streets with signboards of ‘Down with US’ and chanting "Death to America", and Iran put a ban on talks with the US
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Iranians in masses marched on the streets with signboards of ‘Down with US’ and chanted "Death to America" as they marked the 40th anniversary of the takeover of the US Embassy. Days ahead of the anniversary Iran’s supreme leader had announced the day before that the ban on the talks with the United States will not be lifted.
According to international media, there were approximately 1000 rallies and marches that were being conducted across the nation. The people marched around the old US embassy, which is popularly called the "den of spies" after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. On Sunday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterated his opposition to negotiation with the U.S., saying Tehran had outmaneuvered America in the four decades since its Islamic Revolution.
However, this year’s commemoration of the embassy seizure comes as Iran’s regional allies in Iraq and Lebanon face widespread protests. The Iranian Consulate in Karbala, Iraq, a holy city for Shiites, saw a mob attack it overnight. Three protesters were killed during the attack and 19 were wounded, along with seven policemen, Iraqi officials said.
The anniversary comes as Iran appears poised to announce it was breaking another limit imposed by the 2015 nuclear deal, which saw Tehran limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Already, Iran has gone beyond its enrichment and stockpile limitations and has begun using arrays of advanced centrifuges prohibited under the accord.
Iran-US relations
The relationship between the two nations have always been tensed and has progressed only to its worst. Iran suffered a crisis situation when the US President Donald Trump rejected the 2015 agreement which was signed between the world powers and Iran according to which it accepted to hold back its nuclear program and lift the sanctions.
However, the United States imposed heavy sanctions on Iran which severely affected Iran’s oil exports. Iran’s oil export is the major source of generating revenue and therefore the sanctions affected its economy. The United States, on the other hand, imposed the sanctions in order to negotiate a better deal with Iran. Khamenei has put a ban on any talks with the officials of the United States and wants the US to engage in the nuclear deal and lift all the sanctions.
20:08 IST, November 4th 2019