TEHRAN (Iran News) – Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says as long as the usurping and criminal Zionist regime is dominating al-Quds, all days must be Quds Day.

The Leader made the remarks in a live televised speech on Friday on the occasion of the International Quds Day.

Ayatollah Khamenei also lauded the Iranian nation for gloriously marking the day.

He said the usurping Zionist regime is wallowing in a convoluted network of problems in both political and military arenas, adding, “Holy Quds is the heart of Palestine, and the entire occupied country of Palestine, from the river to the sea, is a continuation of Quds. Every day, the Palestinian nation shows that it has stood up and will stand up against the oppressor with exemplary courage. The Palestinian youth have acted as a defensive shield for Palestine with their self-sacrificing activities, and they are harbingers of a different future.”

The Leader went on to say, “We are carrying out this year’s Quds Day while everything is signaling a new equation in Palestine’s present and future. Today, an “invincible willpower” in Palestine and throughout West Asia has replaced the “invincible army” of the Zionists. Today, that criminal army has been forced to turn its aggressive formation into a defensive one. In the political arena today, the most important supporter of that usurping regime, the United States of America, has suffered consecutive defeats. It has been defeated in the war in Afghanistan, defeated in its maximum pressure policy against the Islamic Republic of Iran, defeated in the face of Asian powers, defeated in trying to control the economy of the world, and defeated in the internal management of its own country and managing the phenomenon of the deep rift that has come about in the U.S. establishment.”

Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized, “Polls show that almost 70% of the Palestinians in the 1948 and 1967 lands and the surrounding camps encouraged the Palestinian leaders to attack the Zionist regime. This is an important phenomenon because it signifies the complete preparedness of the Palestinians to confront the usurping regime, and it provides the mujahid organizations with the freedom to take action whenever they deem necessary.”

He stated, “Even though the Zionist regime is out of breath, it continues to commit crimes and kill innocent people with its weapons. It murders unarmed women, children, the elderly, and the youth. It imprisons and tortures them, destroys houses, and demolishes farms and property. The liars in Europe and the US who make extravagant claims about human rights and who created a commotion on the issue of Ukraine keep silent in the face of all these crimes in Palestine. They do not defend the innocent people, but they also help that bloodthirsty wolf.”

This is an important lesson. Regarding the issues of the world of Islam–at the top of which stands the issue of Palestine–we cannot and must not rely on these racist, hostile powers. Only with the power that comes from resistance, which originates in the teachings of the Qur’an and which arises from the religious rulings of dear Islam, can one resolve the issues of the world of Islam and the issue of Palestine, which stands at the top of all Islamic issues, he added.

“The formation of the Resistance in West Asia has been the most blessed phenomenon in this region in recent decades. The magnificence of the Resistance was able to cleanse the occupied territories of Lebanon of the pollution of the Zionists, pull Iraq out from the clutches of the U.S., save Iraq from the maliciousness of the Daesh and assist Syrian defenders in the face of the U.S. schemes. The Resistance fights against international terrorism, helps the resistant people of Yemen in the war that has been imposed on them, wrestles with the Zionist usurpers in Palestine, and will bring them to their knees with God’s grace. It also highlights the issue of Quds and Palestine more and more for the people of the world to see daily”, the Leader added.

The Islamic Republic of Iran advocates and supports the camp of Resistance. It advocates and supports the Palestinian Resistance. We have always said this, we have always acted on this, and we have stood by it. We condemn the risky move to normalize relations [with the Zionist regime]. We denounce the policy of a normalization of relations. Some Arab governments have asked the US to accelerate the matter of solving the Palestinian issue. If they mean that before the U.S. leaves the region, it should remove any obstacle standing in the way of the Zionist regime, they have behaved treacherously and have brought disgrace to the Arab world. Secondly, they have been naïve since this is a case of the blind leading the blind,” Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized.

Meanwhile millions of people took to the streets for Quds Day rallies around the world to show solidarity with the Palestinians and condemn Israeli atrocities against them.

In Iran, demonstrations started in Tehran and some 900 others cities and towns across the country.

People taking part in the rallies seek to communicate to the world the deplorable conditions inflicted by Israel upon the Palestinians and press the Israeli regime to respect their rights.

They also used the opportunity to highlight Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestine and the regime’s atrocities against the Palestinians.

At the end of the rallies, a statement was issued that described the liberation of the holy city of Quds, freedom of the oppressed and defenseless Palestinian nation from the clutches of the occupying Zionist regime, and annihilation of the Israel regime as the lofty ideals of the Muslim world.

It denounced concessions and normalization of diplomatic relations with the usurping Tel Aviv regime as an act of unforgivable treason and a fiendish plot aimed at weakening the anti-Israel resistance front and liquidation of the Palestinian cause.

It also referred to the International Quds Day and support of Palestinians as the guarantor of Iran’s national security and the key to the unity of the Muslim Ummah against the conspiracies of colonial and arrogant powers.

The statement went on to stress the need for beefing up the anti-Israel resistance front, calling on regional and international organizations to adopt decisive and practical positions, back the sole solution to the Palestinian issue, which is based on the return of Palestinian refugees and a comprehensive and free referendum, and oppose any alternative, oppressive and sham initiative in its place.

It noted that the successive defeats of the United States, the Israeli regime, and Saudi Arabia in the strategic West Asia region have dispelled the invincibility myth of the Israeli army and the regime’s security apparatus and indicated that colonialism and Zionism are in decline in the region.

The statement also decried the deadly silence of the international community and human rights organizations vis-à-vis the racist practices, genocide, and inhumane crimes of the bogus Israeli regime.

It highlighted that the Tel Aviv regime has perpetrated evil crimes against various nations, especially Palestinians, and has been involved in criminal acts against the Iranian people and the assassination of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear scientists.