Lack of Interest Seizes Tehran on Hostage Day : Iran: Only 10,000 to 15,000 show up to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the taking of the U.S. Embassy.

Iran marked the 10th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. Embassy on Saturday by opening the compound to the public and displaying seven alleged CIA spies. Most Iranians ignored the event.

The apparent disinterest was a blow to radicals who hoped to use the occasion to stir up anti-American passion. It was a victory for President Hashemi Rafsanjani, who wants to improve Iran’s relations with the West and end his country’s isolation.

An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people gathered outside the one-time U.S. Embassy in Tehran, which was stormed by militants on Nov. 4, 1979. For 444 days, 52 American diplomats and embassy personnel were held hostage there. They were finally released on Jan. 20, 1981, the day President Jimmy Carter left office and Ronald Reagan was sworn in as President.

Even routine Friday prayer gatherings attract more people than Saturday’s rally. Crowds at previous anti-U.S. rallies have been estimated at more than 1 million.

The main speaker was former Interior Minister Ali Akbar Mohtashemi, Rafsanjani’s main rival. It was his first public appearance since he was dropped by Rafsanjani when he formed his new Cabinet in August.

Mohtashemi repeatedly referred to the animosity the late founder of the Islamic republic, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, harbored toward the United States. Khomeini died on June 3.

“Ten years ago today, when the students following the Imam’s (Khomeini’s) line seized the den of spies, the whole world marveled that the face of America was pushed in the mud,” Mohtashemi said.

He noted that Khomeini was against any rapprochement with the “bloodsucker government of the United States.”

The crowd often interrupted to shout “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

They waved life-size portraits of Khomeini and his successor as spiritual leader of the Islamic republic, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

During a march to the embassy from Tehran University, a mile away, some protesters burned an effigy of Uncle Sam and about 160 U.S. flags, some with skulls in place of the field of stars.

Banners vowing to “fight the U.S. until the last drop of our blood,” hung from maple trees surrounding the compound, which now is used as a training base for young Revolutionary Guards.

The seven alleged CIA spies appeared at a news conference in a corrugated iron hut next to the main embassy building.

They said they were recruited by the CIA while abroad.

One of the alleged agents, Bahman Aqaei, said he was recruited while working at the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi.

Aqaei, the group’s spokesman, said they had been trained in espionage techniques and promised as much as $1,200 a month, a small fortune in economically troubled Iran, but never received any money.

He claimed he was recruited by an American Embassy official who put him in contact with a dissident Iranian group, which he did not identify. Others said they were recruited in West Germany and Turkey.