Iranians will mark the 34th anniversary of the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran with slogans of “Death to America”, the Revolutionary Guards say

 

AFP

Tehran

 

 

 

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said yesterday that “Death to America” will remain their slogan, regardless of signs of detente between the Islamic Republic and Washington.

“Death to America is the manifestation of our nation’s determination and resistance against the dominance of oppressive and untrustworthy America,” it said on its sepahnews.com website.

“The revolutionary hatred of Iranians will be manifested nationwide with slogans of ‘Death to America’” tomorrow, the Guards said.

November 4 is the 34th anniversary of the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran, during which Islamist students captured and held 52 US diplomats hostage for 444 days.

The crisis triggered a cut in diplomatic relations and led to decades of mutual hostility.

“American espionage against governments and people in different countries is proof that leaders of the White House cannot be trusted,” the Guards said, referring to a row between Europe and Washington over alleged US spying on its allies.

Iran’s new President Hassan Rohani, who has pledged to improve ties with the West, held a historic telephone conversation with US President Barack Obama last month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

It was the first direct contact between leaders of the two countries in more than three decades.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has backed Rohani’s overtures but criticised some aspects of his UN visit as “inappropriate”.

Iranians are also split over whether it is still appropriate to chant “Death to America”—one of the main slogans of the 1979 Islamic revolution—at official ceremonies.

Last week, Tehran municipality removed anti-American posters from the streets of the capital.

Conservatives have said tomorrow’s ceremony to mark the seizure of the US embassy will be held on a larger scale than previous years, in response to gestures of rapprochement with the West.

lThe head of reformist daily Bahar, Saeed Pourazizi, was arrested yesterday for publishing an article seen by critics as questioning the beliefs of Shia Islam, Fars news agency reported.

“Today he was summoned to the prosecutor’s office... He was arrested and transferred to Evin prison,” in northern Tehran, his wife Masoumeh Shahriari told Fars.

Shahriari said the public prosecutor had “lodged a complaint” against Pourazizi, who was trying to negotiate being released on bail.

“We have not been informed about the amount of money needed for the bail,” she said.

Iran’s press watchdog banned Bahar last week because of an article seen by many as questioning a core belief of Shia Islam.

Prior to the ban, the daily issued an apology note, saying publishing the article was an “unintentional mistake” and it had temporarily suspended activities to “ease the tensions”.

Culture Minister Ali Janati said the article “foments religious conflicts” and that the daily had received earlier warnings.

And judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani warned on Wednesday that his department will “act with determination against those who falsify the history and try to undermine the fundamentals of the regime”.

Rohani, who has the support of reformists and moderates, pledged to work for more social freedom during his election campaign.

Several reformist journalists and political activists in the predominantly Shia country have been released since he took office in August.

Bahar and several other reformist dailies, notably Shargh, only resumed publication at the end of 2012 after a ban lasting several years.