Tens of thousands of Iranians marched on Friday, the annual al-Quds Day, in Tehran and chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America", minutes after a woman was killed in an explosion amid the protests.
The protesters held an Iranian flag, with the slain woman's blood on it. Ali Larjani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, who was also attending the protests, alleged that "a fearful" Israel was dropping bombs on Quds Day out of fear. He said that the US President, Donald Trump, was not aware that Iranians were a strong, aware, and determined people.
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Quds Day is an annual event in Iran, where Iranians express solidarity with the Palestinian cause and the people. Iran has marked al-Quds Day on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, after the occasion was declared by the republic's founder and first Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
This year, however, the emotions are running even higher as the event comes amid the US and Israel bombing of Tehran. People have come out in tens of thousands to express anger against the US and Israel, amid the bombing of their country.
People assembled in Tehran's Ferdowsi Square and other cities to express solidarity with Palestine and their anger against the bombings. Press TV, the state media outlet, reported that an air strike was carried out meters away from the crowd in Ferdowsi Square, killing a woman.
Press TV reported that Israel had threatened people to clear the area because it planned a strike. The killing of a woman in the explosion further angered the crowd, and passions ran high during the demonstrations.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had called on the population to participate despite the war. On Thursday, he posted on X, urging his fellow Iranians to "disappoint Iran's enemies by taking to the streets in greater numbers than ever before". People have responded to the call.
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