LAGOS FEBRUARY 10TH (URHOBOTODAY)-Iranians took to the streets on Friday to protest against America and its newly-elected president Donald Trump, according to state TV.
Hundreds of thousands reportedly swore their allegiance to the country’s conservative religious elite, chanted “Death to America!” and held up effigies of Trump. Thousands rallied in the Azadi Square in Tehran on the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution of 1979, which overthrew a U.S.-backed leader.
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Pictures from the protests, which Newsweek could not independently verify, showed an effigy of Trump being hanged in a mock execution. Protesters also burned American flags, Reuters reported.
The mass mobilization in the capital and other cities came after the country’s top religious authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei demanded Tuesday that Iranians protest to show they were not scared of American “threats.” The Supreme Leader has previously branded the U.S. “The Great Satan.”
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, viewed as a more moderate figure to Khamenei, backed the ayatollah’s call, telling Iranians to “show their unbreakable ties with the Supreme Leader and the Islamic Republic [of Iran].” Speaking at the march, Rouhani warned those who threatened Iran.
“This turnout is a response to false remarks by the new rulers in the White House and the people are telling the world through their presence that the Iranian people must be spoken to with respect,” Rouhani said. “Iranians will make those using threatening language against this nation regret it.”
Iranian schoolgirls wave their national flag during celebrations in Tehran’s Azadi Square (Freedom Square) to mark the 37th anniversary of the Islamic revolution, February 11, 2016. A year later, protesters took to the square to oppose President Trump. Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty
President Trump imposed new sanctions on several Iranian bodies and citizens in response after Iran tested a ballistic missile on January 29. The U.S. leader warned Iran that it is “on notice.”
In a landmark deal reached in July 2015, Iran agreed to scale back its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of crippling international sanctions. Iran insisted that the ballistic missile test did not violate the terms of the agreement reached with world powers. But the EU said that the testfire was “inconsistent” with a U.N. resolution adopted after the signing of the agreement. The bill outlawed Iran from testing ballistic missiles with the aim of using a nuclear warhead.
President Trump made a campaign promise to revoke the deal.
The U.S. and its allies, such as Israel, have criticized the Iranian regime, arguing it supports extremism across the Middle East by financing militant groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Newsweek