Iran has unveiled new murals at the former US embassy in Tehran ahead of the 40th anniversary of the seizure of the mission by hardline Islamist students, depicting what state media say is Washington’s weakened power.
Iran is due to mark the takeover of what it calls the “den of spies” after the 1979 Islamic revolution with state-sponsored rallies on November 4, as it does every year.
The students stormed the embassy soon after the fall of the US-backed shah, and 52 Americans were held hostage there for 444 days. The two countries have been enemies ever since.
Anger towards the United States was especially fervent at the anniversary rallies last year following US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the world powers’ 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose sanctions.
Strains between the two countries have deepened after attacks on tankers in the Gulf that the US blames on Tehran, and Iran’s downing of a US military drone that prompted preparations for a retaliatory air strike that Trump says he called off at the last minute.
State media said the murals were produced along themes such as “The Decline of America and the West” and “America’s crime around the World and in Iran”.
They replace ones done over the years on the walls of the mission, which is partly now a museum. The works were revealed at a ceremony by the elite Revolutionary Guards’ commander-in-chief, Hossein Salami, on Saturday.
Read the article in The Canberra Times (AAP).