Iran taunts US on anniv of shah’s ouster

ran taunted the United States on the 41st anniversary yesterday of the ouster of its ally the shah, as huge crowds took to the streets to mark the historic occasion.

Waving national flags and holding portraits of the founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the crowds converged on Tehran’s iconic Azadi Square braving sub-zero temperatures.

“It is unbearable for the United States to accept the victory of a great nation and that a superpower has been driven out of this land,” President Hassan Rouhani told the gathering. “It is natural for them to have dreamt, for 41 years, of returning to this land, because they know that we are one of the most powerful countries” in the Middle East, he added.

Tehran and Washington have been sworn enemies since 1979, when the government of the US-backed shah was ousted and the Islamic republic established. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had already fled the country weeks earlier after months of protests against his regime.

That November radical students demanding the shah’s extradition seized 52 hostages at the US embassy in Tehran and held them for 444 days, prompting Washington to sever ties. The bad blood between Tehran and Washington worsened in 2018 when US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a deal that froze Iran’s nuclear programme and reimposed crippling sanctions.

In the capital, the atmosphere was mixed, with some people casually strolling the streets with their children clutching balloons and others chanting hardline slogans and trampling on US and Israeli flags.

 

Iran taunts US on anniv of shahs ouster

ran taunted the United States on the 41st anniversary yesterday of the ouster of its ally the shah, as huge crowds took to the streets to mark the historic occasion. Waving national flags and holding portraits of the founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the crowds converged on Tehrans iconic Azadi Square braving sub-zero temperatures. It is unbearable for the United States to accept the victory of a great nation and that a superpower has been driven out of this land, President Hassan Rouhani told the gathering. It is natural for them to have dreamt, for 41 years, of returning to this land, because they know that we are one of the most powerful countries in the Middle East, he added. Tehran and Washington have been sworn enemies since 1979, when the government of the US-backed shah was ousted and the Islamic republic established. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had already fled the country weeks earlier after months of protests against his regime. That November radical students demanding the shahs extradition seized 52 hostages at the US embassy in Tehran and held them for 444 days, prompting Washington to sever ties. The bad blood between Tehran and Washington worsened in 2018 when US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a deal that froze Irans nuclear programme and reimposed crippling sanctions. In the capital, the atmosphere was mixed, with some people casually strolling the streets with their children clutching balloons and others chanting hardline slogans and trampling on US and Israeli flags.