TEHRAN -- Protests took place on 
Saturday and Sunday in multiple countries mourning the Israeli assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah.
Nasrallah, who was martyred on Friday in an Israeli airstrike that leveled several residential buildings near Beirut was a towering figure not only in Lebanon but across West Asia and elsewhere.
Over his 32 years leading the organization, he built Hezbollah into a domestic political force and one of the most powerful resistance forces in the world. Nasrallah maintained that there should be one Palestine instead of “the Zionist entity” with equality for Muslims, Jews and Christians. A powerful orator, he was beloved among many Muslims and non-Muslims over his uncompromising stance toward U.S. imperialism and Israeli apartheid.
Protesters gathered not only in Lebanon, but also in Iran, in the West Bank, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, the Indian-controlled Kashmir, Australia, Sweden, France and elsewhere to mourn his assassination.
In Iran, which announced five days of mourning for Nasrallah, protesters gathered in tens of thousands for a second day across the vast country to condemn the terrorist act and reiterate solidarity with the Lebanese people, the resistance and the Palestinians. 
National TV aired footage of protests in several major cities on Sunday. At Iran’s parliament, lawmakers chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”
Lebanese and Palestinian men displayed photos of Nasrallah at a protest in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon. 
In Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, hundreds of Palestinians marched through the city in support of Gaza and Lebanon, where an Israeli invasion is being waged, raising flags and pictures of Nasrallah.
Participants in the march vowed to continue with the resistance against Israel and avenge the assassination of Nasrallah and slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, stressing “Palestine’s message is loyalty to the resistance in Lebanon.”
Tayseer al-Zubri, a member of a group called the Palestinian Popular Conference, said the protesters were there to “declare their solidarity with the Lebanese people and unity in the Palestinian-Lebanese struggle”.
Turkish protesters gathered outside the Israeli embassy in capital city Ankara on Saturday night, hours after Hezbollah confirmed the martyrdom of Nasrallah. They carried pictures of Nasrallah and Hezbollah’s flags, while chanting slogans against the Zionist regime.
In Istanbul, protesters marched from the Levent Metro Station to the Israeli consulate, chanting: “Murderer Israel, get out of Palestine” and “Murderer Israel, get out of Lebanon”.
Carrying a large Palestinian flag, they unfurled a banner that read: “Genocidal Israel will be held accountable, the resisting peoples of Palestine and Lebanon will win.”
Similar protests took place in neighboring Iraq, where angry demonstrators gathered near the U.S. embassy in Baghdad for hours, as security forces stood by to prevent them from approaching the premises. 
Protesters also held a vigil near a bridge leading to the heavily fortified neighborhood in the heart of the city known as the Green Zone.
The protesters carried flags of Hezbollah and Iraqi resistance groups, chanting “Death to U.S.” and “Death to Israel”. They also called for avenging Nasrallah’s blood.
Flags flew at half-mast in Damascus on Sunday and residents said they were still shocked after the assassination Nasrallah, whose fighters helped Syria’s army reclaim large parts of the country during its war on foreign-backed takfiri terrorists.
Syria announced three days of national mourning, with President Bashar al-Assad saying on Sunday that Nasrallah would “remain in the memory of Syrians”.
In Damascus, residents expressed disbelief over Israel’s assassination of Nasrallah.
“He can’t die. He always dreamed of martyrdom, and while this is fitting, it’s still so hard to accept,” said Marwa Barkouka. “He remains alive, not just as a martyr but because he lives inside us. We grew up with him here.”
Many credit Hezbollah’s intervention for key victories, first along Syria’s border with Lebanon and later on in other cities.
“For us, this man was like an entire nation. We had dignity, and now it’s gone,” said Ibrahim Al-Ahmad, another resident of Damascus.
“For someone of his stature, the entire Arab nation didn’t defend him; they left him,” said Baker Haidar Al-Wasiti, another Damascus resident. “We grew up