Thousands of Iranians gathered in central Tehran on 4 November - renamed 'national day of fighting global arrogance' - to commemorate the storming of the US embassy in the city in 1979. The demonstrators, who carried customary flags and banners denouncing the US, marched and chanted 'death to America' outside the former embassy where the 58 US members of staff were held for 444 days. Relations between Washington and Tehran have never recovered after the siege, and US President Bush included Iran in his 'axis of terror' speech in 2002.