(CNN)Iran commemorated the 38th anniversary of the US Emb

(CNN)Iran commemorated the 38th anniversary of the US Embassy takeover Saturday with a potent display of a missile as thousands of demonstrators gathered in Tehran to mark the event that triggered the hostage crisis and sparked the decades-old rift in US-Iranian relations.
On November 4, 1979, Iranian student revolutionaries climbed over the walls of the US Embassy in Tehran and seized dozens of Americans, holding them hostage for 444 days.

The former embassy compound is known locally as the "den of espionage," and protests take place in front of it annually.
One of Iran's most powerful missiles, the Qadr, was prominently featured Saturday, along with anti-US and anti-Israel signs and chanting.