TEHRAN – Secretary of the Expediency Council says U.S. President Donald Trump’s expectation to hold talks with Iranian authorities is nothing but a mirage.

Mosen Rezaee made the remarks on the sidelines of the widespread rallies to mark the 40th anniversary of the U.S. embassy takeover in Tehran on Monday.

“We regard today a historic day and we will continue to fight the arrogance (the U.S.) until we drive the U.S. out of the region and neutralize the impact of their interferences in the region,” Rezaee told reporters, according to Mehr.

“Iran does not fear these sanctions at all and the Iranian nation has experienced worse sanctions in the past 40 years,” he said, referring to U.S.’s unilateral sanctions on Iran.

On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took 52 Americans, including diplomats and staff, hostage. They were held in captivity 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.

Each year on November 4, Iranians take to the streets across the country to commemorate the anniversary of the embassy seizure.

In remarks on Saturday, Chief of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Hossein Salami said the U.S. embassy was for years “a place for attempts against the country’s interests.”

“The Americans speak of freedom and democracy but all dictators in the world are pawns in their game of chess,” he said, adding, “Dictators such as Iran’s Shah and reactionary kings in Islamic countries have been and still are their elements.”

MH/PA