Iranians flooded the streets of the capital today by the hundreds of thousands.

Iranian school boys hold national flags as photos of Iran's late leader Ayatollah Khomeini, left and...

Iranian school boys hold national flags as photos of Iran's late leader Ayatollah Khomeini, left and Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, are seen during a ceremony at celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and brought hard-line clerics to power, in Tehran on Tuesday Feb, 10, 2009. Iran welcomed talks with the new administration of U.S. President Barack Obama on the basis of mutual respect, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.

(Hasan Sarbakhshian/AP Photo)
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Even amid a crumbling economy and deep internal divisions, the 1979 Islamic revolution remains a unifying force here and today was no different.

"We're very happy," one marcher said of events in Tehran marking the 30th anniversary of Iran's transformation from a constitutional monarchy to an Islamic republic. "Just look at the size of the crowd."

Many of the events were directed at America, with marchers chanting, "Down with the USA!"

Others carried effigies of U.S. and Israeli leaders. Many said they see the revolution as the time when Iran finally broke free from dependence on the United States, which remains a powerful sentiment.

When asked if Iranian leaders should accept President Obama's offer to talk, an offer he repeated during his news conference Monday night, many Iranians said the burden of change is on the United States.