Israel and US denounced at Iran rally
Missile on display at anniversary celebrations
HUNDREDS of thousands of Iranians rallied yesterday to mark the anniversary of Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, denouncing the United States and Israel as oppressors. President Hassan Rouhani, addressing flag-waving crowds on central Tehran’s Azadi (Freedom) Square, made no specific reference to Israel’s air strikes in Syria on Saturday, which it said were aimed at air defence and Iranian targets.
But he told the crowd: “They [US and Israel] wanted to create tension in the region . . . they wanted to divide Iraq, Syria . . . They wanted to create long-term chaos in Lebanon . . . but with our help their policies failed.”
Iran backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war and supports Shi’ite militias in Iraq, Houthi rebels in Yemen and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
US President Donald Trump, who sees Iran as a rising threat to regional stability in the Middle East, has pledged to work with Israel and Iran’s key regional rival, Saudi Arabia, to curb what they say are Tehran’s attempts to extend its influence in the region.
Israel has warned about increased Iranian involvement along its borders with Syria and Lebanon.
Israel’s air strikes on Saturday, which it said successfully hit air defence and Iranian targets, represented the most serious confrontation between Israel and Iranian-backed forces in Syria in the seven-year civil war.
The Syrian army claimed to have brought down an Israeli F-16 after Israel reportedly shot down an Iranian drone, which it said had entered Israeli airspace. Iran has denied the Israeli claim, saying its presence in Syria is only advisory.
In a show of defiance of Western pressure to curb its ballistic missile programme, Iran put its Ghadr ballistic missile with a range of 2 000km on display in Tehran’s central Vali-ye Asr street.
Iran says its missile programme is solely defensive in nature and is not negotiable, as demanded by the United States and the Europeans. Iranian State television said “tens of millions of people” rallied to support the revolution across the country of 81 million, which faced its worst domestic crisis in nearly a decade in late December.
For over a week, thousands of young and workingclass Iranians angry about corruption, unemployment and a widening gap between rich and poor staged anti-government rallies in 80 cities and towns.
Rouhani yesterday called for a “year of unity” after the recent protests as Iran celebrated 39 years since the Islamic revolution.
Rouhani said conservative officials should not block candidates they disliked from future elections, and that there should be greater trust in the people, including the use of referenda on key issues.
“I request that the 40th year of the revolution, the coming year, be the year of unity. I ask conservatives, reformists, moderates and all parties and all people to come and be together,” he told a huge crowd in Tehran.
Rouhani, who won power in 2013 and again last year with the backing of reformists, has faced tough criticism from conservatives over his efforts to rebuild relations with the West and ease civil liberties.
He has tried to use the recent protests as a way to convince conservatives that they must follow his calls for reform.
“We should trust the people. We must allow all inclinations to participate in elections,” he said.
“Our revolution was victorious when we were all together,” he said. “And today we must once again invite everyone to get on board the successful and victorious train of the revolution.
“All Iranian races, all Iranian religions, Shiites and Sunnis, Muslims, Christians, Jews and Zaroastrians – whoever believes in the constitution.”
Meanwhile, Israel issued stark warnings yesterday over Iran’s presence in Syria.
“We inflicted on Saturday a heavy blow to Iranian and Syrian forces,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting.
“We made clear to everyone that our rules of engagement will not change. We will continue to harm anyone who tries to harm us.”