The Islamic Republic of Iran has marked the 34th anniversary of a failed US military operation on Iranian soil that was launched in an attempt to release former US embassy staff held in Tehran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
On Friday, hundreds of Iranians from the city of Tabas and other neighboring cities gathered at a mosque for an annual commemoration ceremony. A number of Iranian officials, including Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani, were also among the participants.
Iran commemorates the event every year as a symbol of the failure of US plots against the Islamic Republic.
The units involved in the 1980 operation were from the US Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps.
However, a sandstorm hit and brought down the group of US military aircraft in the Tabas Desert, killing eight American servicemen and resulting in the abortion of the mission. Inspections showed a helicopter crashed into a C-130 Hercules transport plane as five other choppers were stranded in the storm.
The Tabas incident occurred during the administration of former US President Jimmy Carter, and many believe it played a major role in Carter’s defeat in the 1980 presidential election in the US.
The great Imam delivered on this occasion a historic message and a phrase of it comes as following:
“I have repeatedly told that Carter will do every wrong and commit every crime, even the world he will set to fire only to reach the presidency of America. Now the evidences of that are appearing one after another. Carter's mistake is in his conjecture. He thinks that he can make the Iranian nation to go astray from the way of God and humanity. By this foolish display he presumes that the Iranian nation will retreat while the nation of Iran is ready to sacrifice everything for Islam, independence and freedom.” The great Imam said.