On This Day In 1979, Iranian Students Stormed The U.S. Embassy In Tehran

On November 4, 1979, a group of students stormed the U.S. embassy in the Iranian capital, Tehran, taking over the compound and seizing the embassy staff. The young militants would eventually hold more than 50 American hostages in tense conditions for 444 days .

Iranians marked the anniversary of the takeover on Tuesday with a major anti-U.S. rally in the capital. The Associated Press reports that radical protesters chanted "Down with America," "Death to Israel" and "Death to Britain" while the crowd burned American, British and Israeli flags.

Take a look at these intense images from November 1979 in Tehran.

Iranian students climb over the wall of the U.S. embassy in Tehran during the Iranian Revolution, 4th November 1979. The students went on to seize the embassy staff, and hold 52 of them as hostages for 444 days. (Photo by AFP/Getty Images)

Students occupying the United States Embassy compound in Tehran at prayer on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 1979. (AP Photo)

Ayatollah Lahouti, in charge of the Revolutionary Guard and a close aide to Ayatollah Khomeini addresses the crowd gathered outside the American Embassy on Nov. 10, 1979 in Tehran. (AP Photo)

Iranians chat through the gates of the American Embassy compound in Tehran on Nov. 9, 1979 which covered with banners and pictures of U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Shah of Iran -- both depicted chained and tied. (AP Photo)

Portraits of Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini and anti-American slogans decorate the gates of the United States Embassy in Tehran, on Nov. 6, 1979 as armed revolutionary guards stand on the street. (AP Photo)

An Iranian student shouts anti-American slogans as he waves an automatic rifle in the air, in Tehran, on Monday, Nov. 5, 1979 soon after the occupation of the American embassy by students.(AP Photo)