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                 Iranians Mark US Embassy Takeover Anniversary

   by VOA News

   Tens of thousands of people, many shouting "Death to America," gathered
   in Tehran to mark the 1979 takeover of the U.S. embassy following the
   Islamic Revolution.
   Observers say Monday's rally is the largest crowd in years at the
   annual event, which is held on the site of the former U.S. compound.
   Hardline conservatives had called for a major showing to protest
   President Hassan Rouhani's historic outreach to Washington.
   A 15-minute telephone conversation after the U.N. general assembly
   between U.S. President Barack Obama and hsi Iranian counterpart,
   Rouhani, in September was the first direct contact between the two
   countries' top leadership in over three decades.
   Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has voiced support for
   President Rouhani's overtures to the West, but says some of the
   president's moves were "not appropriate."
   Islamist students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran 34 years ago and
   held 52 embassy staff members hostage for 444 days, rupturing
   diplomatic relations and provoking decades of mutual hostility.
   President Rouhani, who took office in August, has made several gestures
   toward the U.S. in the hope of easing Western sanctions imposed on Iran
   for pursuing a controversial nuclear program.
   His gestures have drawn deep skepticism from Iranian
   ultra-conservatives who view the U.S. as an arch-enemy and oppose
   making concessions on Iran's nuclear activities. Western powers accuse
   Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian
   energy program, a charge Tehran denies.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/iranians-mark-us-embassy-takeover-ann
   iversary/1782669.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/iranians-mark-us-embassy-takeover-anniversary/1782669.html