Iranian Protests Gather Outside of Former U.S. Embassy to Burn American Flags, Obama Effigies

Thousands of Iranians reportedly gathered in Tehran on Wednesday to burn U.S. flags and effigies in celebration of the closing of the U.S. Embassy in 1979.

Protesters reportedly gathered to chant anti-United States slogans and burn effigies of U.S. President Barack Obama, as well as American flags.

"We are here to say, 'down with the USA,'" a 59-year-old protester told NBC News. "We will never [...] let to open this embassy again. It was not embassy — it was a place for spies."

As CBS News reports, the protesters gathered on the anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. Embassy by militant students during the 1979 revolution.

During the protest on Wednesday, Iranian official Ebrahim Raeisi announced that recently, pro-American writers had reportedly been arrested by the state.

"The intelligence and security forces identified and cracked down on a network of penetration in media and cyberspace and detained spies and writers hired by Americans," Raeisi, a prosecutor, said during the protest.

"Under no circumstances will we allow penetration of Americans in economic, social and cultural areas," he added.

 According to Reuters, Hamid Rasaei, an MP in Iran who is considered a hardliner, reportedly told protesters at the rally that "we managed to capture the U.S. embassy in the early years of the Revolution but there are still espionage dens in our newspapers."

The protest at the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran this week comes after Russia invited Iran to join in negotiation talks with the U.S. regarding Syria.