TEHRAN: Thousands of Iranians poured into the streets on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the 1979 storming of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, a defining event that severed ties between the two nations more than four decades ago. This year’s commemorations took on an especially charged tone, coming just months after a brief but intense war with Israel that drew direct U.S. involvement.
The annual rally, known in Iran as the “National Day of Fighting Global Arrogance,” featured dramatic displays of defiance. Along the main parade route in Tehran, replicas of missiles lined the streets, while effigies of former U.S. president Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dangled from a crane — evoking the imagery of Iran’s revolutionary past. Demonstrators waved flags, burned effigies, and chanted familiar slogans: “Death to America, death to Israel!”
Five months after the conflict with Israel — during which the U.S. joined in strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities — this year’s commemorations carried a deeper sense of nationalism and anger. Student groups, families, and workers flooded the capital, many holding posters of Iran’s late General Qassem Soleimani and banners proclaiming solidarity with Gaza.
“We must be more visible this year so that the authorities, the army and others can feel at ease and know that we are behind them,” said Mohammad Hossein, a 15-year-old student attending the rally. Standing beside a friend wearing Nike shoes, he reflected on the tension between Western symbols and revolutionary pride.
Throughout the day, U.S. and Israeli flags were burned and trampled, while some demonstrators staged mock funerals for Israeli soldiers, using fake coffins draped in flags bearing the Star of David to symbolize Israel’s battlefield losses in Gaza. The swinging effigies of Trump and Netanyahu drew large crowds, with many likening the spectacle to the public executions that were once a common feature of Iran’s revolutionary era.
“America’s hostility towards us will never end,” said Malek, a 57-year-old laborer who withheld his full name. “America’s job is to deceive.”
The atmosphere was fueled by memories of the June conflict, when Israel launched a sweeping series of airstrikes across Iran targeting military sites, nuclear facilities, and residential areas, killing dozens of scientists and senior officials. Over the course of the 12-day war, the United States joined its ally in targeting three Iranian nuclear sites — even as Washington had been engaged in delicate diplomatic talks with Tehran over its atomic program.
“Our feeling is much different this year because our country has been seriously attacked,” said Sareh Habibi, a 17-year-old student. “Our peers, teenagers and the youth, were martyred, and somehow it seems like a mission on our shoulders to come to the demonstration.”
Along the parade route, Iranian-made missile replicas bearing the slogan “We love to fight the Israeli regime” were prominently displayed. Nearby, mock uranium centrifuges stood as symbolic reminders of Iran’s determination to pursue its civilian nuclear program, which Tehran insists is peaceful despite Western suspicions that it is a cover for developing atomic weapons.
According to state media, similar demonstrations and rallies were held across the country, including in Mashhad, Kerman, and Rasht, where crowds echoed the same anti-U.S. and anti-Israel chants.
For many Iranians, the anniversary serves not only as a commemoration of 1979 but also as a renewed assertion of defiance — a message that, despite years of sanctions, conflict, and isolation, Iran’s revolutionary identity remains firmly intact.
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