Iran’s president and international minister had been among the many senior officers who joined 1000’s of individuals marching by way of downtown Tehran on Friday, exhibiting defiance as U.S.-Israeli airstrikes continued, sending up plumes of smoke not removed from a crowd in keeping with movies posted on-line.
Iran marks “Quds [Jerusalem] Day” on the ultimate Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in solidarity with Palestinians, and that was the event for the big rally in Tehran, however the high officers exhibiting up was a transparent sign to the U.S. and Israel that their ongoing strikes had not dislodged the almost 50-year-old theocracy that guidelines Iran.
New Supreme Chief Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei was not seen through the rally, and there have been rumors this week that he could have been severely wounded — probably even left in a coma — in the identical strike that killed his father and predecessor on Feb. 28, however it will be very uncommon for Iran’s supreme chief to attend a public road rally.
“Right now is Quds Day in Iran, and regardless of the brutal assaults carried out at this time by the Zionist regime and the USA, we’re witnessing a large turnout — hundreds of thousands of individuals — not simply in Tehran, however throughout all cities,” International Minister Abbas Araghchi stated in a video posted on-line, which confirmed him strolling amidst flag-waving Iranians. “This demonstrates the agency resolve of the Iranian individuals in assist of the Islamic Republic, the reason for Jerusalem, Palestine, and all of the ideas we now have upheld over time which have introduced us thus far. God prepared, we’ll proceed with the identical power and energy, and we’ll compel our enemies to acknowledge the power of the Iranian individuals.”
President Masoud Pezeshkian was additionally seen in movies strolling by way of Tehran with different rally attendees, whereas one other clip confirmed the top of Iran’s highly effective Judiciary, Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, main a prayer.
Talking with a reporter surrounded by different individuals through the march, Mohseni-Ejei was interrupted briefly by the sound of one other U.S. or Israeli strike hitting close by.
As he was saying Iran’s leaders “need to stand with the individuals, beside the individuals, till the final breath and the final second,” a loud growth is head and he and the others round him look towards the obvious explosion, earlier than he continues: “The individuals are not intimidated by these enemy assaults. They take precautions, however below this rain and below these missile bombardments, they’ll on no account retreat from resistance.”
