TEHRAN – Iranians are going to hold rallies in 900 cities and towns on Friday to mark the annual International Quds Day after a two-year hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The head of the Islamic Development Coordination Council said at a press conference on Wednesday that pro-Palestinian marches will be held across the country on April 29 in commemoration of the International Quds Day.
In 2021 and 2020, the authorities had called off the countrywide demonstrations marking the International Quds Day on the last Friday of Ramadan due to coronavirus concerns.
According to Muhammad Hussein Moussapoor, this year’s rallies will be held in the capital Tehran and 900 other cities and towns across the country by observing health protocols.
The demonstration in Tehran will begin at 10 am on Friday and participants 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 Hussein 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, who officially declared the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan as International Quds Day back in 1979.