QUDS DAY: People worldwide mark Intl. Quds Day in solidarity with Palestinians

In Iran, demonstrations started at 10 a.m. local time (0530 GMT) 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 are also using the opportunity to highlight Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestine and the regime’s atrocities against the Palestinians.

IRGC chief: Palestine lies in hearts, minds of all Muslims

Moreover, Chief Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami said Palestine lies in the hearts and minds of all Muslims worldwide, and that the Quds Force was formed in order to support Palestinians and the Palestinian cause.

“The Zionist regime was created under international conspiracies. God willing, we will see the eradication of Israel off the face of the Earth,” Salami said on Friday as he addressed people attending the International Quds Day rallies in the Iranian capital city of Tehran.

He described the creation of the Tel Aviv regime as a non-healing wound and a dagger in the back of all Muslims, stressing that Palestinians have realized that the so-called Abraham Accords and similar normalization agreements will neither bring them security nor peace.

“The enemy only understands the language of force. The roadmap for Iran is to become stronger as it is the way to emerge victorious.”

“The Zionist regime has not won a war against Palestinians in recent years. Zionists have reached a point, where inflicting injuries on a Palestinian will bring them repercussions,” the IRGC chief said.

He went on to note that Israeli officials have come to realize that Washington is not a reliable partner to rely on,

“We are men of our words. Our response will be painful for the Zionist regime,” Salami said, warning Israel that its vicious acts will bring about severe consequences.

Final statement calls for ‘beefing up anti-Israel resistance’

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.

“We condemn any attempt, which would seek to deviate the public opinion of the Muslim world away from the evil scheme,” the statement read.

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.

International Quds Day is among the legacies of the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini (God bless his soul), 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.

Iraqis rally to mark Intl. Quds Day

Elsewhere in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra, hundreds of people took to the streets to mark the International Quds Day.

The participants carried pictures of Imam Khomeini (God bless his soul), the late founder of Iran’s Islamic Republic, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Iraq’s most prominent Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, who headed the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).