But the atmosphere outside the former embassy compound in the heart of Tehran was more like a carnival than a political protest.

Most of the 20,000 demonstrators were high school students who were given the day off to mark the anniversary of the November 4, 1979, embassy takeover and seizure of 52 US hostages, a turning point of Iran's 1979 islamic revolution.

However, the anti-American sentiment that has been a cornerstone of Iranian policy has lost its resonance since the election last year of president Mohammad Khatami, a moderate cleric who has encouraged ties with Americans.

All but about a half-dozen of the 400 students who seized the US embassy once zealous supporters of the Islamic revolution and its leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini are now considered moderates who back Khatami's call fordialogue with the American people.

Some in the crowd, cheered on by fellow demonstrators, threw handfuls of fliers into the air every few minutes, emblazoned with ``death to America'' and ``death to Israel.''

Still, few people listened as Mohsen Rezaei, a member of a powerful government body and former commander of the revolutionary guards, denounced the United States.

Many of the people who say today, `why doesn't Iran establish ties with America?' mainly emphasise the short-term reasons'' behind the embassy takeover, Rezaei said.

There were long-term reasons for the takeover of the ``den of spies,'' he said, using a term popular during the revolution to describe the US embassy.

Ahmad Reza Mahdavi, a 17-year-old high school student wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with a picture of Titanic'' star Leonardo Dicaprio, said he harboured no hatred against the United States.

I don't dislike America too much. But we must accept that the American government is not fair to Iran,'' he said.

The UnitedStates remains close to countries that are undemocratic, violators of human rights, and worse in every way compared to us. But all we get from them is criticism, accusations and blame.''

On Monday, the student leaders who seized the embassy in 1979 invited their former hostages to return to the country where they spent 444 days in captivity. No American flags were burned at that demonstration as a courtesy to the American people.