Tehran will become a battleground today between supporters and opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as Iran marks the 30th anniversary of the storming of the US Embassy.

While Government rallies will pay tribute to the key event of the Iranian revolution, when tens of American diplomats were seized, they will face a new generation of Iranian students taking part in a very different protest.

This one will not be directed at the “Great Satan”, as America is known by the regime, but Iran’s own Government, and its brutal suppression of the opposition after Mr Ahmadinejad’s widely disputed re-election in June.

The students aim to hijack the annual anti-American rally outside the old US embassy in Tehran, just as they did with the annual al-Quds Day rally in support of the Palestinians in September, when several hundred thousands supporters of the so-called “Green” movement took to the streets.

It would be impossible for the regime to cancel these state-sponsored events without huge loss of face.

For days opposition activists have been sending e-mails, distributing flyers and plastering walls will graffiti urging people to attend. They have even been distributing chocolates containing invitations.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the former Prime Minister defeated by Mr Ahmadinejad in June, has urged supporters to make the day a reminder that “it is the people who are the leaders”. Mehdi Karroubi, another defeated presidential candidate, is expected to march through the capital.

The regime has responded with warnings that anti-Government demonstrations will be crushed. Police declared yesterday that only antiAmerican rallies will be allowed, and any others “strongly confronted”. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, said that questioning the election results is the “greatest crime”.

The regime is planning to flood the streets with supporters, including thousands of Basiji, or militiamen. It is censoring coverage of the event; has told businesses not to give employees the day off; and has reportedly closed some schools and universities.

As in 1979, it is increasingly students who are taking the lead. The opposition claims that the regime, in its desperation to retain power, has subverted the Revolution. Ironically, several of the students who led the assault on the US Embassy 30 years ago are now prominent among the opposition.

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