(ANSA) - TEHRAN, FEBRUARY 11 - Tens of thousands of Iranians flocked to the center of Tehran and the country's main cities this morning to celebrate the 44th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.
In Azadi Square, many portraits of the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, founder of the Islamic Republic, but also of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, as well as of the popular general Qassem Soleimani, killed in a US army raid in January 2020 in Baghdad.
"Down with the United States", "Down with Israel", "Down with the United Kingdom", some of the main slogans shouted in the square, around which Sejjil missiles and 136 Shahed drones produced by Iran were deployed.
"The anti-system protests in the country, which began about five months ago, are nothing more than a plot by the enemies" of Iran, "so those who let themselves be deceived by them and continue to write or speak against the system are on the same wavelength as the enemies" .
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said so at the rally.
"The enemy is making a big mistake, as the security of the region and the Persian Gulf will be resolved only when the United States and outsiders end their presence" in the area, he added.
The celebrations come almost five months after the start of the protest movement caused by the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish who died after her arrest for not wearing the Islamic veil correctly.
(HANDLE).