Iranians mark anniversary
TEHRAN, Iran — Iranians began a nationwide celebration today to commemorate the 38th anniversary of the 1979 revolution with rallies around the country, and President Hassan Rouhani called the new U.S. administration “a problem.”
Demonstrators in Tehran chanted traditional slogans against the U.S. and Israel. The rallies come at a time when new U.S. President Donald Trump has already engaged in a war of words with Iran’s leadership and put Tehran “on notice” over a recent ballistic missile test.
Among other places, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marched toward Tehran’s Azadi Square, where Rouhani addressed the crowd. He called the new U.S. administration “a problem” and said Iran will strongly answer any threat.
“All of them should know that they must talk to the Iranian nation with respect and dignity,” he urged the world. “ (Iranians) will resist before enemies until the end.”
Rouhani called Iran the home of “lions” but said the country does not seek hostility. “We are united before bullying and any threat,” he said.
In downtown Tehran, thousands of people marched, some carrying the Iranian flag, some with banners and posters with revolutionary slogans. Printed U.S. flags and pictures of current and former U.S. presidents were flattened on the road and trampled.
Iran and the U.S. have not had diplomatic relations since 1979, when Iranian students stormed the American Embassy and took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
The rallies commemorate Feb. 11, 1979, when followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ousted the U.S.-backed Shah Reza Pahlavi. The United States helped orchestrate the 1953 coup that overthrew Iran’s popular prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, which brought Pahlavi to power and set the stage for decades of mistrust.
