Thousands rally in Tehran for al-Quds demo despite ongoing war

Despite ongoing airstrikes, thousands of Iranian government supporters are taking to the streets of Tehran on Friday to take part in anti-Israel demonstrations.

The rallies are taking place on the occasion of al-Quds Day, which was introduced by former revolutionary leader ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979.

The state-organized protests are directed against Israel and demand the “liberation of Jerusalem.”

Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem. The background to this is Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967.

The annual demonstration to support Palestinian rights is traditional held on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called on the population to participate despite the war. On 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.”

Eyewitnesses said the crowd was smaller than in previous years. They attributed the lower turnout mainly to two factors: many residents had left Tehran after the war began, while others feared potential drone attacks during the ceremony.

They said that participants waved Iranian flags and chanted anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans.

State media showed images of people carrying portraits of the slain revolutionary leader Ali Khamenei and his son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei.

During the rallies, a loud explosion was heard in the city centre.

The Fars news agency, which is closely linked to the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), published a video showing people hammering nails into coffins covered with US and Israeli flags.

Another video shows men trampling on a large US flag on the street. The flag reads “Down with America” in English.