The embassy building - which still contains much of the old equipment used by US embassy staff to send coded messages - became a collection point for anti-American posters, sculptures and paintings. In years past, officials have opened its doors to mark special occasions, such as the anniversary of the hostage crisis. But a few months ago, it was formally established as a museum accessible to the public year-round - and the timing, coming on the heels of the election of US President Donald Trump, is no coincidence. [...]
Payam Mohseni, the director of Harvard University's Iran Project, noted that in light of Iran's "long arm" in conflicts throughout the Middle East, the Trump administration cannot approach any major regional crisis without dealing with Iran in some capacity. "Iran will be a top priority for Trump's Middle East policy, and whether he chooses to increase tensions or de-escalate, he will be forced to deal with Iran over issues ranging from Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen to Persian Gulf security in the Middle East," Mohseni told Al Jazeera. [...]
"They view it as their pride and their strength," Torfeh told Al Jazeera. "Khamenei still models himself on Ayatollah Khomeini, and has not as yet taken Iran out of that revolutionary mode 38 years later. In almost every speech, he makes references to the legacy of Khomeini. Yet there is hardly any legacy that could be put to Khamenei's own name once he passes away. And his one and only image, sitting or standing in his long black robe on a raised platform addressing his loyal followers, is symbolic of the fact that he has been frozen in the same political position, almost too worried to do anything different to his predecessor."
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