TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Millions of people in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere rallied on Friday to mark Quds Day, condemning a planned Middle East plan that U.S. President Donald Trump has touted as the "deal of the century”.
Iranians took to the streets in massive numbers Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei called this year's rallies more important than ever.
Marches were held in 950 communities across Iran, with demonstrators carrying banners with slogans such as "Al-Quds is the eternal capital of Palestine” and "Death to America” and "Death to Israel”.
Iranians in the capital Tehran set fire to effigies of U.S. President Donald Trump as well as American and Israeli flags, while in the Iraqi capital, people marched over a large Israeli flag.
The International Quds Day is a legacy of the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini, who designated the day in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the International Quds Day has been marked worldwide on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
This year’s protests took place as the White House is promoting a June 25-26 meeting in the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain as the first phase of its Mideast plan.
The plan’s political vision has not been outlined, but glimpses of the plan suggest it sidelines or ignores the longstanding goal of independence and has already been rejected by Palestinian leaders and much of the Arab world.
Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is the chief architect of the plane, on Thursday met Zionist PM Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem Al-Quds to drum up support for the conference in Bahrain.
"Mr Trump's son-in-law who is a young Jewish businessman has designed this plan. Trump himself has declared that Kushner loves Israel, and now this person wants to be in charge of the plan," Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said in Tehran.
Larijani said Washington's policy is to humiliate Muslims and force them into a difficult situation, denouncing the planned Bahrain summit an "ignominy" for Muslim countries.
He said while different aspects of the deal is not clear yet, one definite prospect is to do away for good with the issue of returning 6 million Palestinian refugees to their homeland.
"To realize this goal, America is about to arrange an economic deal and get money from the miserable Persian Gulf countries. There is also talk of making the Noble Quds the capital of the occupying regime and a village the capital of Palestine," Larijani added.
Many high-ranking Iranian officials attended the rally in Tehran, including President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif.  
Zarif said: "It is unfortunate that some Arab leaders have this illusion that if they stand beside Netanyahu, they can reach their goals.”  
President Hassan Rouhani said the "deal of the century" would be the "bankruptcy of the century" for its sponsors and "definitely will not come to fruition".
He said Quds Day is "the day the confrontation of all Muslims with the world's aggressors and the event's message is that Palestine will be alive forever and Al-Quds will remain for Muslims".
"We have no doubt that the ultimate victory will be for the righteous and Palestine, and that the land of Palestine will be a safe place for Muslims, Christians and Jews," Rouhani added.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency said police in the western province of Kordestan had blocked a terrorist operation ahead of the Quds Day rally in Sanandaj city and arrested three terrorists.
In neighboring Iraq, tens of people took to the streets in Baghdad and other cities, setting fire to Israeli and U.S. flags.
"Al-Quds Day in Baghdad, in other Iraqi provinces, and across the world, expresses rejection of the ‘deal of the century’, which is being planned by Trump in order to dissolve the Palestinian cause in (his) own way,” said Mo’een al-Kazemi, a member of Baghdad’s provincial council.
"The people in our region and the world are harassed by Trump’s and the United States’ polices, which are trying to dominate the will of the people. Today, there is a broad rejection of Trump’s decision to annex Al-Quds and consider it the capital of Israel,” he said.
Militiamen in uniform marched with yellow flags. "We will pray in Quds,” read some of the banners.
In Damascus, Syrians and Palestinians marked Quds Day by marching from the Hamidiyeh bazar in the old city to the landmark Umayyad Mosque, shouting anti-Israel slogans and waving Syrian and Palestinian flags.
"No to the deal of the century,” a banner read. "Our Palestinian people and the freemen of the Arab nation will thwart the deal of the century.”
In Yemen’s capital Sanaa, large crowds marched to mark Quds Day, Al Masirah TV said on Twitter.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar sent a grave warning to Israel ahead of Quds Day and used the opportunity to reject Trump’s plan and the summit in Bahrain.
"Trump wants to sell Al-Quds to the Zionists without paying a price,” Sinwar said.
"I call him from here and say that I and the Palestinian people will be demonstrating along the (Gaza) fence in light of Quds Day in numbers that have not been seen before.”
As the rallies began on Friday, a Palestinian teenager was shot dead by Zionist troops as he allegedly tried to enter Jerusalem Al-Quds from the occupied West Bank.
Earlier Friday, the Zionist regime said a Palestinian stabbed and wounded two Israelis in East Jerusalem Al-Quds before being shot dead.
One of the Zionists was in a critical condition and the other suffered serious wounds, Rosenfeld said. Police identified the alleged assailant as a 19-year-old Palestinian.