Twenty years ago today, a group of Islamic militants took 53 members of the staff of the U.S. Embassy in Iran as hostages. That crisis lasted 444 days, although its effects color Tehran's relations with the United State to this day. On this 20th anniversary, Washington -- with a few exceptions, as always -- seems prepared to move on. In Iran, however, the subject of relations with the U.S. remains as contentious as ever, the bright red line in a society deeply divided between radicals and conservatives. Those divisions are on display today in Tehran.

The Iranian Parliament, dominated by hardliners, has declared the anniversary, a "national day against global arrogance," thinly veiled code for the U.S. Yet, in another indication of the splits in Iranian society, conservatives will hold a demonstration at the embassy. Reformers held their own rally earlier in the week after warning that there would be no flag-burning or other inflammatory imagery.

Although the rhetoric used by the two sides is similar, evidence of a split is readily apparent. President Mohammad Khatami, the leader of the reformers, has been making conciliatory noises toward the U.S. since he was elected two and a half years ago. Last month, he called for "a dialogue between cultures and civilizations" when speaking at a conference at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. In one of those inevitable ironies, some of his most vocal allies are the militants who seized the U.S. hostages in 1979.