A funny thing happened on the way to Iran’s annual celebration - this year was the 30th anniversary of its takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. As usual, a pro-government crowd trooped to the site of the old embassy and dutifully chanted, “Death to America” and burned a few U.S. flags.

But their numbers were dwarfed by thousands of unruly anti-government demonstrators marching through the streets of Iran’s major cities chanting “Death to the dictator” and trampling posters of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.