Explosions near Tehran Al-Quds Day solidarity march with Palestinians | US-Israel war over Iran news

Thousands of people across Iran join Al-Quds Day rallies in solidarity with Palestine, shouting slogans against Israel and the United States.

Multiple explosions were heard during an al-Quds Day parade in the Iranian capital, where thousands of people were taking part in annual rallies in solidarity with Palestinians, as US-Israeli attacks across the country continued for the 14th day of the war.

A large afternoon explosion on Friday rocked a Tehran square packed with demonstrators there for the annual event, Iranian state television reported.

The cause of the explosion in Ferdowsi Square was not immediately known, but it came shortly after Israel threatened to evacuate the area as it planned a strike. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera Arabic reported an airstrike in Tehran meters away from a gathering of protesters. It is not clear where exactly the attack took place or whether it led to any casualties.

Despite US and Israeli strikes in the region to mark the commemoration, crowds were seen in Tehran and other cities, state media reported.

Al-Quds Day (or, simply, “Quds Day”) is an annual, international day to express support for Palestine and oppose the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem.

Tasnim news agency reported that the Minister of Roads, Minister of Sports and Youth were also among the demonstrators.

Protesters on Friday chanted “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” ​​and carried Iranian flags and pictures of Palestinian fighters, expressing support for groups fighting the US and Israel.

Our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues in Tehran saw people raising banners bearing political and religious slogans expressing solidarity with Jerusalem and the Palestinian people.

Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said that while the event was meant to “express solidarity” with the Palestinian people, it was also a moment to express their anger at the ongoing attacks in the country.

“It’s a two-fold message … Emotions are running high among people joining this demonstration as the country sees attacks by Americans and Israelis,” he said.

“In the last nine months, this is the second time the Israelis have attacked the country. This time … we are dealing with an ongoing war, the scope of which is unprecedented, incomparable to previous wars.”

Iranian President Massoud Pezheshkian called on the population to participate despite the war. On Thursday, he urged his fellow Iranians at X to “frustrate Iran’s enemies by taking to the streets in greater numbers than ever before.”

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.