Iran’s president and international minister have been among the many senior officers who joined 1000’s of individuals marching via downtown Tehran on Friday, displaying defiance as U.S.-Israeli airstrikes continued, sending up plumes of smoke not removed from a crowd in line 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 prime officers displaying up was a transparent sign to the U.S. and Israel that their ongoing strikes had not dislodged the practically 50-year-old theocracy that guidelines Iran.
New Supreme Chief Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei was not seen in the course of the rally, and there have been rumors this week that he might have been severely wounded — presumably even left in a coma — in the identical strike that killed his father and predecessor on Feb. 28, however it might be very uncommon for Iran’s supreme chief to attend a public avenue rally.
“At this time is Quds Day in Iran, and regardless of the brutal assaults carried out at present by the Zionist regime and the USA, we’re witnessing an enormous turnout — hundreds of thousands of individuals — not simply in Tehran, however throughout all cities,” Overseas 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 rules we’ve got upheld over time which have introduced us up to now. God prepared, we’ll proceed with the identical energy and energy, and we’ll compel our enemies to acknowledge the energy of the Iranian individuals.”
President Masoud Pezeshkian was additionally seen in movies strolling via 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 in the course of 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 persons are not intimidated by these enemy assaults. They take precautions, however beneath this rain and beneath these missile bombardments, they are going to under no circumstances retreat from resistance.”
