Iranians mark 40 years of revolution

TEHRAN: Waving Iranian flags, chanting “Death to America” and burning US and Israeli flags, hundreds of thousands of people poured out onto the streets across Iran on Monday, marking the date that’s considered victory day in the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

On February 11 that year, Iran’s military stood down after days of street battles, allowing the revolutionaries to sweep across the country while the government of Us-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi resigned and the Islamic Republic was born.

In Tehran, crowds streamed in the rain from a dozen of the capital’s far-flung neighbourhoods to mass in central Tehran Azadi, or Freedom Square, chanting “Death to America”, a standard fare at anti-us rallies across Iran.

Chants of “Death to Israel” and “Death to Britain” followed, and demonstrators burned US and Israeli flags. Iranian state TV, which said millions participated in the celebrations, ran archive footage of the days of the uprising and played revolutionary songs. It later broadcast footage showing crowds across this country of 80 million.

The 6-mile-long downtown Enghelab, or Revolution Street, in Tehran was decorated with huge balloons as loudspeakers blared out revolutionary and nationalist songs to encourage people to join the rallies. AP