An Iranian cleric chants slogans as Iranians burn a US flag during an anti-US rally marking the 45th anniversary of the US Embassy takeover, in front of the former embassy building in Tehran, Iran, 03 November 2024. EFE/EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

Iran warns US, Israel of ‘collapse’ on US embassy takeover anniversary

Tehran, Nov 3 (EFE).- Iran warned the United States and Israel could face “collapse and destruction” if they do not change their approach in the Middle East, as it marked the 45th anniversary Sunday of the US embassy takeover in Tehran.

“We always warn them that if they do not change their behavior, they will move towards collapse and destruction,” Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps commander, General Hossein Salami, told a rally in Tehran marking the 1979 US embassy siege by Iranian students.

“The Israelis and Americans cannot secure their political survival by massacring and killing Muslims,” Salami said, accusing them of violating “all human principles” in the Gaza and Lebanon wars.

Iranian students carry a model of a coffin of the Israeli prime minister as they take part in an anti-US rally marking the 45th anniversary of the US Embassy takeover, in front of the former embassy building in Tehran, Iran, 03 November 2024. EFE/EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

Salami reaffirmed Iran’s support for the “Axis of Resistance,” an alliance of anti-Israel militias that includes Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Palestine’s Hamas, Yemen’s Houthis, and other groups in Syria and Iraq.

He emphasized that the “resistance front” would continue to fight against Israel and would eventually “prevail.”

Salami addressed a rally outside the former US embassy in Tehran, now a museum known as the “Den of Spies.”

Protesters chanted slogans such as “Death to Israel” and “Death to the United States” and waved flags of Iran, Palestine, and Lebanon. Some demonstrators also carried portraits of Hezbollah’s former leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas’s slain leader Yahya Sinwar.

“I am here with my four-year-old daughter and my wife to deliver a strong message to the US and Israel, which is the murderer of children,” Eshagh, a 52-year-old insurance company employee, told EFE.

Another protester, Javad Eslami, a 65-year-old retiree, said he participated to show his support for Iran against the US. “Events in the region have revealed the true face of the United States, which has backed all of Israel’s crimes,” he added.

The 1979 embassy takeover, during which Iranian students stormed the US embassy and held 52 diplomats hostage for over a year, is marked annually with rallies as a national event in Iran.

Iranians take part in an anti-US rally marking the 45th anniversary of the US Embassy takeover, in front of the former embassy building in Tehran, Iran, 03 November 2024. EFE/EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

Iran’s tensions with Israel, and its main ally, the US, have heightened in recent months mainly due to the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon.

On Oct. 1, Iran launched around 180 missiles toward Israel, marking the second such attack since April, when Iran launched hundreds of missiles and explosive drones at the Jewish state.

Israel responded on Oct. 26 with missile and aerial strikes on alleged military sites across three Iranian provinces, including Tehran, resulting in five deaths.

On Saturday, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, warned Israel and the US of a “crushing response” for the attack. EFE

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