Flags Burned As Iran Marks 35th Anniversary Of U.S. Embassy Takeover

IN PICTURES: 1979 U.S. Embassy Siege In Tehran

Several thousand people have demonstrated outside the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran to mark the 35th anniversary of its takeover.

Participants in the annual demonstration on November 4 burned American, Israeli, and British flags and chanted slogans against the three countries.

This year's rally coincided in Iran with Ashura, which commemorates the death of Imam Hussein, one of the most revered figures in Shi'ite Islam.

In his address to the demonstrators, cleric and university professor Ali Reza Panahian compared the United States to enemies Hussein faced in his final battle in Karbala in present-day Iraq.

Similar rallies were held in other Iranian cities.

Student activists stormed the U.S. Embassy in November 1979 following the Islamic Revolution, which deposed the U.S.-backed shah.

Fifty-two American hostages were held for 444 days.

Based on reporting by AFP and AP