Ballistic missile on show at march marking anniversary of 1979 US embassy seizure, as official says Trump’s stance on Iran ‘has brought people to the streets’

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Iran put a ballistic missile on display on Saturday as thousands marched to mark the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy, as a senior official said Donald Trump was a “crazy individual” turning the US and other countries in the “direction of suicide”.



“All the governments confirm that the American president is a crazy individual who is taking others toward the direction of suicide,” Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the supreme national security council, told a rally in Tehran, state media reported.

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“Trump’s policies against the people of Iran have brought them out into the streets today.”

Shamkhani did not identify the governments he had in mind. The other parties to the nuclear deal – Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – have voiced disquiet at Trump’s opposition to it, fearing it could stir new Middle East instability. But the Europeans share US concern over Iran’s ballistic missile programme and “destabilising” regional behaviour.

Turnout for the annual street rallies commemorating the embassy takeover, a pivotal event of the Islamic revolution, appeared higher than in recent years when Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama pursued detente with Tehran.

Last month, Trump broke ranks by refusing to re-certify Iran’s compliance with its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, reached during Obama’s tenure. Under that deal, most international sanctions were lifted in exchange for Tehran curbing nuclear activity seen to pose a risk of being put to developing atomic bombs.

Iran has reaffirmed its commitment to the deal and United Nations inspectors have verified Tehran is complying with its terms, but Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has threatened to “shred” the pact if the US pulls out. Senior Iranian officials have repeatedly said the missile programme is solely defensive and is not negotiable.

In a sign of defiance, a Ghadr ballistic missile with a range of 1,240 miles was put on display near the former US embassy in Tehran, now a cultural centre, during Saturday’s street demonstration, the Tasnim news agency said.

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“That America thinks Iran is going to put aside its military power is a childish dream,” said Brig Gen Hossein Salami, deputy head of the elite Revolutionary Guards which oversees the missile development, according to Tasnim. The Fars news agency posted pictures of demonstrators nearby burning an effigy of Trump and holding up signs saying “Death to America”.

Iran and the US severed diplomatic relations soon after the 1979 revolution, during which hardline students seized the embassy and took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

Shamkhani spoke a few days after Khamenei said the US was the “No 1 enemy” of the Islamic Republic.

US-Iranian tensions have risen anew at a time when Tehran has been improving political and military ties with Russia. Vladimir Putin visited Tehran on Wednesday. Khamenei told him Tehran and Moscow must step up cooperation to isolate the US and help defuse conflict in the Middle East.

Iran and Russia are both fighting on the side of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad against rebels, some of them US-backed, and Islamist militants trying to overthrow him.