DATE=11/3/1999 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=IRAN HOSTAGES (L-ONLY) NUMBER=2-255783 BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB DATELINE=CAIRO CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: In Iran, preparations are underway for a rally Thursday to mark the 20th anniversary of the seizure of the U-S embassy in Tehran. On that day, student militants stormed the embassy grounds and held hostage 52 American diplomats for 444 days. The incident caused a rupture in diplomatic relations between the two countries that has yet to be mended, despite calls for moderation by some of Iran's current leaders and a counter-rally Wednesday by moderates. Correspondent Scott Bobb has this report from our Middle East Bureau in Cairo. TEXT: The Council that organizes important rallies in Iran urged supporters to turn out in large numbers for Thursday's traditional rally outside the former U-S embassy. It said attending the rally will show that what it called the struggle against America is strategic and in the national interest. The building, frequently called "the nest of spies", is now used to train Revolutionary Guards. Iran's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Wednesday said those who support a softening of Iran's hardline position against the U-S government are naive, if not treasonous. And he rejected recent calls for dialogue by U-S diplomats as an enemy trying to act like a friend. Ayatollah Khamenei's remarks came as several hundred moderates rallied at Tehran University. They listened to former students who led the embassy takeover 20 years ago call for an easing of the hostile relations between the two governments. The moderates support Iranian President Mohamed Khatami, who last January called for a break in the wall of mistrust and urged a dialogue between civilizations. Since then Iran has mended ties with most of its neighbors in the Gulf region and President Khatami in recent months has visited Germany and France. There have been academic and sports exchanges between Iran and the United States, but official ties remain frozen. U-S officials have called for a face-to-face dialogue between the two governments on ending the rift. They say the Iranian government, however, must stop supporting violent groups in the Middle East, end its opposition to the Middle East peace process, and prove it is not building weapons of mass destruction. The Iranian government rejects these conditions. It wants the U-S government to release frozen Iranian assets in the United States, end economic sanctions against Iran, and ease opposition to a proposed oil and gas pipeline across Iran from the Caspian Sea. ///REST OPT./// The assault on the U-S embassy in Tehran and the seizure of the hostages climaxed the revolution which overthrew a 25 hundred year-old monarchy and brought an Islamic state under the guidance of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Despite the lack of official relations, however, individual ties between Iranians and Americans have survived. The trickle of American tourists who visit Iran find most Iranians friendly on a personal level. In addition, many Iranians have relatives in the United States, a large number of whom have become U-S citizens. (SIGNED) NEB/SB/PT NEB/WTW/ 03-Nov-1999 15:53 PM EDT (03-Nov-1999 2053 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .
