TEHRAN (Iran News) – Millions of Iranians have taken to the streets across the country to celebrate the 44th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that toppled the US-backed Pahlavi regime in 1979.
The rallies in the capital Tehran began at 9:30 a.m. local time (06:00 GMT) on Saturday, with demonstrators from various social strata and different parts of the city marching toward the iconic Azadi (Freedom) Square.
People waved photos of the late founder of the Islamic Revolution Imam Khomeini, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and legendary General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in a 2020 US terrorist attack in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, as well as the martyrs of the Revolution.
The flight of colored balloons and iridescent papers from the Azadi Tower, the performance of professional parachutists of the Armed Forces and the mass recital of Iran’s national anthem were among the celebratory events held in the Azadi Square.
On the eve of the 44th anniversary, fireworks displays were performed in Tehran and other cities at 9:00 p.m. overnight, as people chanted Allahu Akbar (God is the Greatest) in an expression of support for the Islamic Revolution.
Covered by 6,000 media personnel across the country, the foot processions, which came after three years of motorcade marches due to the coronavirus pandemic, were held in 1,400 Iranian cities and 38,000 villages.
The mass rallies on the 22nd of Bahman in the Solar Calendar, which corresponds with February 11, are held each year with tremendous patriotic fervor in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Iranian nation overthrew the despotic regime of Pahlavi, which was fully supported by the United States in the winter of 1979. The struggle against the shah regime reached full fruition on February 11, 1979.
Delivering a speech at the Azadi Square, President Ebrahim Raisi lauded the 22nd of Bahman as the day of the triumph of “truth over falsity,” the day of the victory of “the oppressed over the arrogant,” and the realization of the “miracle of the century.”
Raisi said the epic day put an end to tyranny and dependence and marked the beginning of independence, freedom and the Islamic Republic, adding that the day brought about the crystallization of the will of the great nation of Iran.
Stressing that both the establishment and the continuation of the Pahlavi regime was against the nation’s will and accompanied with a coup d’état, the Iranian president said, “They committed crimes and treason during their rule, and they were unconcerned about [Iranian people’s] great capacities, and only cared for the pleasure of the global hegemony and the United States.”
“Pahlavi’s despotic rule only brought backwardness to this nation and country,” Raisi added, “They came to power against the principles of the Constitution and with a coup.”
Pointing to the country’s achievements in various areas, including science and technology, economy, defense, health and medicine, Raisi said, “Today, we rank first in the region in many fields and we are in the fourth, fifth and sixth place in many arenas in the world. This is for our self-discovery, self-confidence, and reliance on God. Our dear nation has conquered many peaks but the enemy cannot stand it.”
The president said when the enemy saw that the country was progressing in all fields and was not stalled, they started hatching another plot and thought that they could stop the country with chaos.
“They implemented the chaos project and thought that they could bring the country to a standstill with turmoil, and for this reason, they launched a hybrid war in this field,”
Raisi noted, referring to the recent violent riots after the mid-September death of a woman in Tehran.
“They initiated a combined work in the form of a political, economic, media, psychological and perceptual warfare, unaware that the Iranian nation knows them and their tricks.”
The president underlined, “Today, despite the threats and sanctions, Islamic Iran enjoys the growth of fixed capital, investment growth, economic growth, and growth in other indices.”
