Iranians were seen taking photos with President Masoud Pezeshkian as he and other top leaders joined a Quds Day rally in Tehran, which later saw US-Israeli strikes nearby, multiple reports said on Friday. At least one woman was killed in the strikes.
State TV showed President Pezeshkian greeting supporters and posing for selfies on the rain-spattered streets at the annual rally in support of the Palestinian cause, AP reported. National security chief Ali Larijani was there too. He dismissed the latest strikes on the capital as being “out of desperation”.
Other key officials attending in an open show of defiance included judiciary chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, national police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan and foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, according to state TV images.
“These attacks are out of fear, out of desperation. One who is strong wouldn’t bomb demonstrations at all. It’s clear that it has failed,” Larijani told state TV.
Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei was giving an interview to a state television reporter at the demonstration when a strike happened. His bodyguards encircled him, as he raised his fist and said Iran “under this rain and missiles will never withdraw.”
He further said, “Our people are not afraid of the bombing, we will continue along this route.”
Russian news outlets also shared videos of the President and others mingling with the crowd.
Striking a defiant tone, he said US President Donald Trump “doesn’t understand that the Iranian people are a brave nation, a strong nation, a determined nation”.
He added, “The more he presses, the stronger the nation’s determination will become.”
Their presence was the most high-profile public showing by Iranian officials since the February 28 strike that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials.
Huge explosions rocked central Tehran on Friday in an area not far from where the demonstration was being held, state television said.
Araghchi blamed the actions of Israel and the US for the hike in global energy prices, saying “they created this disaster for the region and must be held accountable”.
Israel had earlier warned that it would target the area in central Tehran. But the decision to proceed with the march, and Israel’s threat to target the area, underscored the fierce determination on both sides nearly two weeks into a war that has rattled the global economy and shows no sign of letting up.
Holding images of Ali Khamenei and his son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei, people marched through Tehran in the annual show of support for the Palestinian cause and show of opposition to Israel, trampling on images of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to AFP journalists.
Mojtaba Khamenei, who according to state media and some officials sustained injuries in the attacks at the start of the war, on Thursday issued his first declaration since being named but has yet to appear in public.
