In ‘Jerusalem Day’ protest, Iranians burn effigy of President Trump dressed in an Israeli flag
In 'Jerusalem Day' protest, Iranians burn effigy of President Trump dressed in an Israeli flag
Shashank Bengali and Ramin Mostaghim, Los Angeles Times (TNS)
Iranian demonstrators denounced Israel and burned President Trump in effigy Friday in annual rallies to mark “Jerusalem Day” that authorities said were held in hundreds of cities.
Voicing solidarity with a two-month Palestinian protest movement in the Gaza Strip, demonstrators in Tehran held placards saying “Jerusalem belongs to us” and chanted, “Palestine, Palestine, war until victory.”
The heavily stagemanaged rallies are an annual venting of anger at Iran's foes — including Israel, the United States and Saudi Arabia — that has occurred every year since the 1979 Islamic Revolution on AP PHOTO BY the last Friday of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.
Similar protests were held in Baghdad and in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
This year's rallies in Iran also featured expressions of hostility at the Trump administration for withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear agreement and reinstating sanctions against the Islamic Republic. The sanctions are expected to compound Iran's economic woes and have driven the currency, the rial, to record lows against the dollar.
In recent days, Iran has indicated that it would withdraw from the deal — under which it agreed to open its nuclear program to international inspectors — and resume nuclear activities if the European Union didn't obtain exemptions from U.S. sanctions.
The EU has asked the Trump administration for waivers, without which it has said it might not be able to continue trading with Iran.
“We don't trust Americans or Europeans in any negotiation,” said Ali Hasanzadeh, a 50-yearold demonstrator in Tehran sporting a salt-andpepper beard.
Organizers dubbed the rally “Entefadeh,” which means uprising, condemning the Trump administration's decision to move the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, an act seen as hostile to Palestinians, who claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.