Hundreds of Iraqis took to streets of Baghdad on Friday to celebrate Al-Quds Day, when pro-Palestine rallies are held around the world. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, a military branch with powerful political influence, affirmed as recently as past year that “The USA is still the great Satan and the number one enemy of the (Islamic) revolution”.
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Iran does not recognise Israel’s existence and supports Palestinians that fight it.
Iran represents the only real threat to Israel in the region, Nasrallah indicated.
Iranian nuclear negotiators have been more cautious (however slightly) with their words, although Friday’s well-attended rallies undermine their attempt to portray the regime as moderate.
Millions of Iranians burned the Israeli and American flags and posters of President Barack Obama in the street today in celebration of Al-Quds Day, an annual anti-American and anti-Israeli holiday. “We are holding this gathering to show our solidarity”.
At the rally, the hard-line protesters wrapped America, British, Israeli and Saudi flags around pillars and set them ablaze.
Using the al-Quds Day hashtag, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tweeted: “There are two sides in oppression: oppressor & the oppressed”.
While Iranian officials attempt to hammer out the final details of the nonproliferation agreement with worldwide powers in Vienna, back in Tehran they are singing a different tune.
At a mock checkpoint, several men and a woman dressed in Israeli army uniforms shouted at people who wanted to pass and pushed them back, threatening them with batons and guns.
But participants at the rally for Quds (Jerusalem) Day didn’t seem ready to forget the old grievances. “We stand behind Palestine until its people are freed”, said Ahmad Moghadam, a 67-year-old clerk.
Iran’s main opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), last month published a 28-page report stating that Iran has been trying to keep its nuclear infrastructure intact and retain the capability to produce a nuclear weapon.
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“Demonstrators chant[ed] slogans in condemnation of the Zionists’ crimes in the occupied Palestinian lands”, Iran’s state-controlled Fars News Agency reported.
