LAHORE (Dispatches) --
Thousands of people in Pakistan’s second largest city Lahore have taken to the streets, voicing support and solidarity with Iran against the “genocidal” Israeli regime.
The massive demonstration, led by the prominent Pakistani Shia cleric Allamah Syed Jawad Naqvi, saw the participation of people from all walks of life, cutting across the sectarian and ideological divide.
The rally was held on Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam, formerly known as the Mall Road, one of the busiest streets in Lahore, and attended by thousands of people, both Shias and Sunnis.
The participants chanted vociferous slogans to condemn the occupying regime of Israel’s continued, unbridled aggression in the occupied territories of Palestine, and threats against Iran.
“Threat to Iran is a threat to all Muslim countries,” Naqvi told the rally, reaffirming the support of the Pakistani people for the Iranian government and people.
Other Shia and Sunni leaders also addressed the rally, voicing their support for the Islamic Republic against what they called the “genocidal” regime in Tel Aviv.
They also decried the Arab states for betraying the Palestinian cause by announcing normalizing ties with the Zionist regime, calling on them to terminate their deals immediately.
Speaking at the event, a senior cleric emphasized the importance of forging unity and foiling the sinister plots hatched by the occupying regime of Israel and the hegemonic Western regimes against Muslims.
The senior cleric particularly stressed the need for closer relations between the two Muslim countries of Iran and Pakistan to ward off the threat posed by the occupying regime of Israel and its backers to the world of Islam.
The demonstration coincided with an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) in Islamabad, which was attended by top diplomats and representatives of many Muslim countries.
Tensions between Iran and the Zionist regime have escalated recently, especially in the wake of the new round of talks in Vienna aimed at removing U.S. sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
On Sunday, Nour News which is linked to Iran’s top security body quoted an unnamed security official saying that the Zionist regime is likely considering some king of military action against Iran.