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Iranians march for Gaza on anniversary of US embassy takeover

People demonstrate during the 44th anniversary of the U.S. expulsion from Iran, in Tehran, Iran.

In Tehran, the demonstration began in Palestine Square in the heart of the city. Protesters walked for nearly two kilometres (1.32 miles) until they reached the former US embassy compound. [Majid Asgaripour/WANA]

Thousands of Iranians rallied across the country in support of Palestinians in Gaza, while marking the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the US embassy in Tehran. They condemned Washington’s support of Israel, which has been relentlessly bombarding the Gaza Strip in its war against Hamas.

Saturday’s rally, which was called for by the state, came as the Israel-Hamas war entered its fourth week.

Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel on October 7 killed about 1,400 people, while more than 240 were taken hostage. The Israeli retaliatory operation has killed more than 9,400 Palestinians.

In Tehran, demonstrators marched from Palestine Square in the heart of the Iranian capital to the former US embassy a few kilometres away. Chants of “death to America” and “death to Israel” rang out throughout the marches.

The November 4, 1979, takeover, which took place after the fall of Iran’s US-backed monarch, lasted 444 days, and 52 Americans were held captive. The site of the US embassy is now accessible to the public as a representation of what Iranian officials call a “den of spies”.

A statement published on behalf of the protesters at the end of the commemoration called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza and warned the United States, United Kingdom and France that the crisis might expand in the region.

Iranian demonstrators chant slogans as they hold Iranian and Palestinian flags during a rally in front of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran.

Iranian demonstrators chant slogans as they hold Iranian and Palestinian flags during a rally in front of the former US embassy in Tehran, Iran. [Vahid Salemi/AP Photo]

A man is dressed in an 'uncle Sam' outfit wearing a shirt in the colours of the Israeli flag, takes part in a rally outside the former US embassy in Tehran, to support the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip.

A man dressed as Uncle Sam and wearing a shirt in the colours of the Israeli flag takes part in a rally outside the former US embassy in Tehran. [Atta Kenare/ AFP]

People burn an effigy of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a rally outside the former US embassy in Tehran, to support the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip.

People burn an effigy of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and stomp on his images during the rally. Others carried banners calling the US, “great Satan”. The banner on the main podium reads: “We trample America under our feet.” [Atta Kenare/ AFP]

Iranian school girls show their hands with pro-government slogans and an anti-Israeli slogan which reads in Farsi:

Iranian school girls raise their palms displaying pro-government slogans and an anti-Israeli slogan which reads in Persian: “Death to Israel”, during the rally. [Vahid Salemi/AP Photo]

Iranians lift placards during a rally outside the former US embassy in Tehran, to support the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip and to mark the 44th anniversary of the start of the Iran hostage crisis.

In a statement published on behalf of the protesters, they called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza. The statement ended with a pledge that Iranians would stand by Palestine “until final victory”. [Atta Kenare/ AFP]

Iranian women with Palestinian flags painted on their hands flash the victory sign during a rally outside the former US embassy in Tehran, to support the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip and to mark the 44th anniversary of the start of the Iran hostage crisis.

The annual rally is typically a venue for anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiments and draws large crowds. [Atta Kenare/ AFP]

An Iranian woman walks past an anti-U.S. mural on the wall of former U.S. Embassy during the 44th anniversary of the U.S. expulsion from Iran, in Tehran.

Iran is a known backer of anti-Israeli groups such as the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad as well as the Lebanese Hezbollah. [Majid Asgaripour/WANA]

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a rally outside the former US embassy in Tehran, to support the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip and to mark the 44th anniversary of the start of the Iran hostage crisis.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a rally outside the former US embassy in Tehran to support Palestinians in Gaza. “We consider the criminal US a principal culprit in all these crimes,” in Gaza and against Palestinians, he said. [Atta Kenare/ AFP]

An Iranian man kicks a plastic Israeli flag during the 44th anniversary of the U.S. expulsion from Iran, in Tehran, Iran.

Ghalibaf claimed that the Hamas attack on Israel has caused “irreparable” intelligence and security damage to the Israeli state. [Majid Asgaripour/WANA]

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