Iran to mark Int'l Quds Day with nationwide rallies

Iranians are going to hold rallies in 900 cities and towns on coming Friday to mark the annual International Quds Day after a two-year hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Tasnim news agency, the head of the Islamic Development Coordination Council said at a press conference on Wednesday that pro-Palestinian marches will be held in the streets across the country on April 29 in commemoration of the International Quds Day.

In 2020 and 2021, the authorities had called off the countrywide demonstrations marking the International Quds Day on the last Friday of the holy month Ramadhan due to coronavirus concerns.

According to Mohammad Hossein Moussapoor, this year’s rallies will be held in the capital Tehran and 900 other cities and towns across the country in compliance with the health protocols.

The demonstration in Tehran will begin at 10:00 a.m. local time on Friday and ralliers will converge on the University of Tehran, he added.

The keynote speaker in Tehran will be Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami, while a commander of the Axis of Resistance will also deliver a speech at the Friday prayers, Moussapoor said.

The International Quds Day is an annual event during which demonstrators express their solidarity with the Palestinian people and opposition to the occupation of the Palestinian territories by the Zionist regime of Israel.

The day is seen as the legacy of the late Founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini (God's mercy upon him), who officially declared the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadhan as International Quds Day back in 1979.

ME