Top Iranian officials including the president and top security official defied the Israeli aggression on Tehran and made public appearance during a rally marking International Al-Quds Day.
Iranians were seen taking photos with President Masoud Pezeshkian as he joined Al-Quds Day rally in Tehran, which saw US-Israeli strikes nearby.
State TV showed President Pezeshkian greeting supporters and posing for selfies on the rain-spattered streets.
Iranian president Pezeshkian and foreign minister Aragachi walks the streets of Iran being greeted by men and women.
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Head of Iran’s National Security Council Ali Larijani also made a public appearance at the rally. Talking to state TV, the top Iranian security official dismissed an Israeli strike at the site the rally in Tehran as an act of “desperation.”
“These attacks are out of fear, out of desperation. One who is strong wouldn’t bomb demonstrations at all. It’s clear that it has failed,” Larijani said while marching at the rally.
Striking a defiant tone, he said US President Donald Trump “doesn’t understand that the Iranian people are a brave nation, a strong nation, a determined nation. The more he presses, the stronger the nation’s determination will become.”
Judiciary chief Sheikh Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei and national police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan were also in attendance, state TV pictures show.
Mohseni Ejei was giving an interview to a state television reporter at the demonstration when a strike happened. His bodyguards encircled him, as he raised his fist and said Iran “under this rain and missiles will never subdue.”
Footage shows Iran's Judiciary Chief, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, attending International Quds rallies in Tehran, remaining steadfast even as a US-Israeli airstrike targets a location nearby.
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Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also joined the rally in Tehran, praising the Iranian nation’s resolve despite the US-Israeli aggression.
“Today is International Al-Quds Day in Iran, and despite the brutal US-Israeli aggression, even by targeting these rallies, we see millions of people not only in Tehran but in all Iranian provinces. This shows the determination and will of the Iranians to defend the Islamic Republic, Al-Quds, the Palestinian cause, and all the principles that we have carried throughout these years and that have brought us here. God willing, we will continue with this strength and we will force our enemies to acknowledge the strength of the Iranian people,” he told state TV.
Source: Iranian media (translated and edited by Al-Manar)