TEHRAN (Iran News) –Millions of Iranians and Muslims across the world took part in the International Quds Day rallies across Iran and other Muslim countries to show their solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people and condemn Israeli atrocities and acts of aggression against Palestinians in the occupied territories.
The rallies in Iran, organized by the Islamic Propagation Coordination Council (IPCC), started at 10 a.m. local time (0630 GMT) in Tehran and other cities across the country on Friday.
People taking part in the rallies intend to communicate to the world the deplorable situation of the Palestinians and condemn Israeli atrocities which have intensified this year, especially since the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.
Ten routes have been designated for the rallies throughout the Iranian capital, where people from all walks of life are heading to the iconic Enqelab (revolution) Square.
Every year on the last Friday of Ramadan, worldwide rallies are held to support the Palestinian people’s resistance against Israel and the struggle to liberate their territories, which have been occupied by Israel for decades.
The annual event is seen as an opportunity for freedom-seeking people across the world, regardless of faith, to voice their support for the Palestinian cause and vent their anger against the apartheid regime in Tel Aviv, which has occupied Palestinian territories since 1967.
The International Quds Day is among the legacies of the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini, who is revered as a spiritual leader by Muslims across the world. Back in 1979, shortly after leading an Islamic Revolution which toppled the US-backed Shah of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini named the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan the Quds Day.
In Tehran and addressing the participants in the rally Majlis Speaker Mohammad BaqerQalibaf said International Quds Day revealed the criminal face of the child-killing Zionist regime in front of the people of the world.
He said that the initiative of Imam Khomeini (RA) in appointing International Quds Day has turned the issue of Palestine into a popular and global issue in the world.
International Quds Day is among the legacies of the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini, who is revered as a spiritual leader by Muslims across the world.
Today, thanks to Quds Day, all Muslims can say that Al-Quds is the capital of all Palestine and Palestine is the capital of the Islamic world, he added.
Qalibaf also noted that terrorism exists in the essence of this regime.
Describing the Zionist regime as the number one enemy of the Islamic world and humanity, Ghalibaf said that this enemy sought to show Iran and the Resistance as a threat to Islamic countries.
The Zionists sought to create conflict in the Islamic world and tried to create differences between Islamic countries, and they tried to present themselves as peace seekers and Iran as a problem in the Islamic world, but the Leader of the Islamic Revolution thwarted such a plot in a wise manner, he said.
In order to counter this conspiracy, the Leader put brotherhood between Shiites and Sunnis on agenda and made efforts to bring the Islamic world closer together, Qalibaf added.
Elsewhere in his remarks, he hailed the achievements of the Palestinian Resistance Front against the occupation regime and said today, Resistance, is not only passive but prepared to counter Zionists.
Referring to movements of Takfiri and ISIL terrorists sponsored by the US and Zionist regime in the region, Qalibaf said that the Resistance Front and Martyr Soleimani did not allow such enemies an opportunity to harm the Islamic world.
