Thousands of Iranians march in annual pro-Palestine rallies

It was originally proclaimed in 1979 by Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, as a religious duty for all Muslims – and non-Muslims – to rally in solidarity of oppressed people.

“You can not be with Palestine unless you are with Iran, and if you are an enemy of Iran, you are an enemy of Palestine and Jerusalem, If Syria Were Lost, Palestinian Cause Would Be, Too: Nasrallah he added”.

“Public demonstrations in Iran on this scale, saturated with hatred of Israel and the United States, do not take place without government sanction”, said AJC Executive Director David Harris.

Iran represents the only real threat to Israel in the region, Nasrallah indicated.

On Friday, a crowd of about 50,000 people took part in the rally in sizzling heat at Tehran’s Palestine Square, while others celebrated in hundreds of towns and cities across the country.

Iranian demonstrators burn a representation of the US flag reading “down with America”, in Arabic and Persian, during an annual pro-Palestinian rally marking Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day at the Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) St.in Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 10, 2015. Posters showed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saudi King Salman and US President Barack Obama in flames.

Protesters chanted “Down with America” and “Death to Israel” as they set fire to Israeli and American flags.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader, called on other Muslims to unite around Al-Aqsa, the mosque atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and the third holiest site in Islam. “We back the oppressed and are against oppressors”.

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.

“We are all here to see the freedom of Quds”.

The day marks Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and the appropriation of Arab land since 1948.

The NCRI, the group which first blew the whistle on Iran’s secret uranium enrichment and heavy-water sites in 2002, last week also warned that without “complete unrestricted access” to worldwide inspectors to monitor Iranian military facilities, Iran could not be trusted to abide by the terms of the worldwide agreement.