TEHRAN – Hossein Sheikholeslam, an advisor to Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, has described the takeover of the American embassy in 1979 as a “preemptive move” against a possible U.S.-orchestrated coup.

“Iranian students and other groups of people were worried that something like the 1953 coup would be staged,” Sheikholeslam said in an interview with Tasnim news agency published on Wednesday.

Thirty-seven years have passed since a group of Iranian students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took 52 Americans, including diplomats and staff, hostage. They were held hostage for 444 days.

The embassy in Tehran is now an Islamic cultural center and a museum. It stands as a symbol of the Iranian revolution, and is known in Iran as the "den of spies."

Sheikholeslam was among the students who took part in the attack on the embassy.

“The atmosphere of Iran in 1358 (1979) depicts Iranian people’s suspicion and lack of trust towards America,” he said.

Sheikholeslam emphasized that Iranian people considered America as a “criminal” and feared the possibility of another coup d'état due to the fact that the Shah was in the United States.

He also said the Iranian nation were aware that the government of Mosadegh had been overthrown with the U.S. help. “And they considered the Iranian regime of the post-coup era as a puppet state put in place to protect the interests of America.”

The students who took part in the seizure wanted the United States to “hand over the Shah” so that the he would face trial in the presence of international observers, he added.

“But the U.S. government, in a foolish move, defended the Shah and prolonged the hostage crisis,” he remarked.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Sheikholeslami said the U.S. embassy takeover did not breach any international law.

“Under international law, Iran had the right to do what it thought was right in order to prevent another crime from happening,” said Sheikholeslami, adding that the Islamic Republic had serious suspicions of the U.S. government.

MH/PA