Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was also quoted by state television on Friday as saying that Western nations are capitalizing on the religious conflict between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims in order to sway global attention away from the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Iranians staged anti-Israel rallies across the country on Friday, with protesters condemning Israel and calling “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.”
Tens of thousands of people marched in the capital, Tehran, as part of the al-Quds day rallies held each year on the last Friday of the Muslim month of Ramadan. Protesters trampled and burned Israeli and US flags and also chanted “down with the USA.”
Tens of thousands of Iranians participated in similar rallies took place across the Islamic Republic, Iranian state media reported.
In a speech ahead of Friday prayers in Iran, the deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) Gen. Hossein Salami lashed out at Israel.
“We Iranians as a united and integrated nation see liberation of the Holy Quds, rescuing the oppressed and defenseless Palestinian nation from the dominance of the fake Zionist regime and efforts aimed at eliminating the cancerous tumor of Israel as the noble cause of the Islamic Revolution, the strategy of the late Imam Khomeini and his successor, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and the first priority of the Muslim World and the only way to confront the illegitimate and criminal Zionist regime,” a resolution issued by the protesters read.
Iran does not recognize Israel and has marked al-Quds day since the start of its 1979 Islamic revolution. Al-Quds is an Arabic name for Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was quoted by state television on Friday as saying that Western nations are capitalizing on the religious conflict between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims in order to sway global attention away from the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
“The global arrogance [the United States and its allies] wants to create discord among Muslims…. Unity is the only way to restore stability in the region….We stand with the dispossessed Palestinian nation,” Rouhani said.
“The Zionist regime is a regional base for America and the global arrogance….Disunity and discord among Muslim and terrorist groups in the region…have diverted us from the important issue of Palestine,” he added.
Likewise, a senior military adviser to the Iranian Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that the US policies are driving the country towards a process of disintegration, which will be completed within the next 25 years.
“The US has reached a point today that it will witness fragmentation and disintegration 25 years later,” General Nasser Arasteh said, addressing a ceremony in Tehran on Friday night.
By: AP, JNS.org and United with Israel Staff
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