Update: Iranians mark anniv. of U.S. embassy takeover

Iranians rallied Wednesday marking the 36th anniversary of taking over the U.S. embassy by a group of Iranian students in Tehran.

Demonstrators gathered in front of the former U.S. embassy in the center of Tehran, now called the "Den of Espionage."

Carrying flags and banners denouncing the United States and Israel, they vowed to follow the example of the Islamic Revolution's late founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who supported the takeover in 1980.

Addressing demonstrators before the former U.S. embassy, Iran's Prosecutor General, Seyed Ebrahim Raeisi, said that the step by Iranian students 36 years ago prevented America's attempts to further advance their influence over Iran.

The Iranian judiciary official said that the United States "violates its minorities' human rights" and should therefore be prosecuted for this.

Also, the Iranian lawmaker Gholamreza Mesbahi Moqaddam, who was present in the demonstration, told Xinhua that "They (the Americans) look down on us. They are not ready to accept us as the government on equal footing with them."

"They have such a temperament of feeling superior on others ... As long as this issue endures and they do not leave it aside, the relation between Iran and the United States will not be normalized," Mesbahi Moqaddam said elaborating on the question of the possibility of normalizing the relations between Iran and the United Staes following the July landmark international deal over the country's nuclear issue.

Furthermore, Mehdi Azizi, the veteran of Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, told Xinhua that "If they (the Americans) want to pursue bullying policies vis-a-vis Iranians, and if they continue the policy of threats and pressures against us, we will never establish relations with them."

The United States severed diplomatic relations with Iran on April 7, 1980, following the embassy takeover and capture of 60 U.S. diplomats in 1979, 52 of whom remained in captivity for 444 days during the hostage crisis. Endit