The gatherings are held on the occasion of al-Quds Day, which was founded in 1979 by the former revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The protests organized by the state are directed against Israel and demand the “liberation of Jerusalem”. Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem. The background to everything is the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967.
The annual show of support for Palestinian rights is traditionally held on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
During the gatherings in the city center, a loud explosion was heard. According to state media, one man was killed in the airstrike.
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian called on the population to participate despite the war. On Platform X, he wrote on Thursday that the Iranian people should “disappoint Iran’s enemies by taking to the streets in greater numbers than ever before.”
Witnesses said the crowd was smaller than in previous years. They attributed the lower turnout to many residents leaving Tehran after the start of the war, and others fearing possible drone attacks.
They said the participants waved Iranian flags and shouted anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans.
State media showed footage of people carrying portraits of revolutionary leader Ali Khamenei and his son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei.
The Fars news agency, which is closely linked to the elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), released a video showing people driving nails into coffins draped in American and Israeli flags. Another video shows men trampling a large American flag in the street that reads “Down with America” in English.
(Vijesti.ba)
