YAZD Three thousand Iranians on Thursday stormed the desert of Tabas, 240km from this central city, to mark an abortive American commando operation to airlift 52 U.S. hostages from its Embassy in Tehran.

Chants of "Death to America" reverberated through the torrid air of the desert where U.S. commandos aboard helicopters and transport lanes had met before being caught up in a sandstorm on April 25, 1980.

Nine men were killed after a helicopter and a transport plane collided and the operation was ultimately ditched to cause humiliation for the Jimmy Carter administration.

The ground force commander of the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps, General Mohammad Ali Ja'fari, described the event as a" divine help" to Iran and a"disgraceful defeat" for the U.S..

The commander drew a parallel between the Tabas debacle and a legend quoted by the holy Qura'n in the "verse of elephant", during which the elephant army of Abraha were stoned by baked clay and met their defeat.

"We should always remember god for assisting us during hard days of the Islamic Revolution, especially in the American military attack in Tabas," Ja'afari said.

"America should know that to fall out with Iran means messing up with the divine will, which transcends all powers," he added.

The commander warned Washington against threatening the Islamic Republic which President George W. Bush has accused of forming part of an "axis of evil" along with Iraq and North Korea.

"America should know that the spirit of being combative and martyrdom-seeking still strongly remains among the people and as far as this morale exists, the U.S. cannot do a damn thing," the commander said, repeating famous statements of the founder of the Islamic Revolution, the late Imam Khomeini.

Ja'fari lashed out at those who seek diplomatic relations between Tehran and Washington, warning that "people's patience will wear thin to break even with them."

Iran has had no diplomatic relations with the U.S., which severed its ties after the 'students following the imam's line' stormed the American Embassy in Tehran, known as 'den of spies', in 1979 and took its staff hostage for 444 days.

The U.S. commando operation was intended to rescue the hostages who were freed by Iran in January 1981 at the inauguration of president Ronald Reagan.

Washington has stepped up its aggressive rhetoric against the Islamic Republic since the September 11 attack on the U.S. landmarks despite Tehran's immediate condemnation of the terror bombing and its important role in the ouster of hardline Taleban in Afghanistan.

The U.S. Senate last Thursday moved to bar nationals from several countries, including Iran, and tighten control over foreign students in the United States.

Tehran denounced the move as "contrary to the spirit of cooperation among nations to expand mutual scientific and cultural ties."

U.S. self-centered policies and its propensity to act as it wishes has provoked an international frustration, notably among its European allies, leading to blunt criticisms.