TEHRAN, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Hundreds of thousands of Iranians poured to the streets of the capital Tehran and other cities across the country to mark Quds (Jerusalem) Day, held annually in support of the Palestinians on the last Friday of Islam's holy month of Ramadan, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
Marchers from all walks of life chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" slogans, and strongly condemned what Iranians usually call "the Zionists' merciless crimes and injustices against Palestinians."
The situation in the occupied Palestinian territories is an issue on which almost all Iranians, regardless of their political leaning, seem to be in broad agreement.
State and military officials, including President Mohammad Khatami, Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi and Judiciary Chief Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi could also be seen among participants at the anti-Israeli rallies.
In a statement issued at the end of their rally, the demonstrators in Tehran reiterated Iran's formal stance toward the Palestinian issue and the settlement of the Middle East crisis: repatriation of all Palestinians, holding a referendum and establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
The statement also called on all Muslim heads of state, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference in particular, to hold extraordinary meetings and adopt "revolutionary and concrete measures" to deter the United States and its allies from waging a war against Muslim states, including Iraq.
Quds Day, initiated more than two decades ago by the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, coincided this year with the 55th anniversary of the U.N. resolution that led to the creation of the state of Israel. The United Nations has designated the anniversary as the International Day of Solidarity with Palestine.
Iran does not recognize Israel, and has always expressed its "moral" support, as Iranian officials often emphasize, for Palestinian resistance groups.
