Iranians Rally Against U.S., 34 Years After Embassy Takeover Behrouz Mehri/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images Iranian women protest outside the former United States Embassy building in Tehran on Monday. TEHRAN - Thousands of Iranian demonstrators surrounded the former United States Embassy building in Tehran on Monday, in the largest anti-American rally in years, bolstering hard-liners who oppose attempts by the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, to establish relations with the Islamic republic's archenemy. Over the years the annual commemoration of the 1979 takeover of the American Embassy in Tehran by Islamic students has become a rallying point for staunch hard-liners who oppose any form of normalized relations. This year there were significantly more protesters, many of them students and government workers. Saeed Jalili, Iran's former nuclear negotiator and a presidential candidate, was the main speaker at the high-profile event, another sign that he is being groomed as the leader of Iran's hard-line alliance of conservative clerics and military commanders. "We must never compromise with the United States," he told the crowds, who responded by shouting, "Death to America." The former embassy building was decorated with posters that called for Iranians to "shout all their anger at the USA" to encourage its downfall. Many Iranians say they want better relations with the United States, but such sentiments have few public platforms. President Rouhani said Monday that his government was not optimistic that nuclear talks with the United States and other world powers would succeed. "But that does not mean we have no hope in resolving problems," he told the local media. His office later denied Mr. Rouhani had made the remarks.