Iranians mark anniversary of Den of Spies seizure

TEHRAN,Nov.4(MNA) – Thousands of Iranian students held rallies across the country on Friday to commemorate the 13th of Aban, which is the anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979. The 13th of Aban in the Iranian calendar, which corresponds to November 3 this year, is Iran’s national day of struggle against the global arrogance and the anniversary of university students’ seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979, which was called the Den of Spies. It is also the anniversary of the day the late Imam Khomeini, the Founder of the Islamic Republic, was sent into exile by the former shah in 1964. The U.S. embassy in Tehran was stormed by students on November 4, 1979, but due to the fact that 2012 is a leap year, the 13th of Aban in the Iranian calendar occurs on November 3 this year. In Tehran, students and other loyalists held a gathering in front of the former U.S. embassy on Taleqani Street and chanted “Death to Britain,” “Down with the U.S.,” “Death to Israel,” “Independence, Freedom, Islamic Republic,” and other slogans. Basij Commander Mohammad Reza Naqdi also delivered a speech to the gathering. On the sidelines of the gathering, students signed a petition, calling on the heads of state of the Non-Aligned Movement to designate a day as the ‘international day of struggle against the global arrogance.’ At the end of the gathering, a statement was read out, in which students said that they still regard the United States as the number one enemy of the Iranian nation and the international community and urged international courts to put U.S. officials on trial and seriously deal with the crimes they have committed.