Millions of people each year take to the streets across Iran and other world countries to show their solidarity with the Palestinians and condemn Israel’s decades-long occupation and atrocities.
The rallies are held to mark Quds Day, which falls on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
In Tehran and other cities and towns, people from all walks of life gather for the annual event which usually marks people chanting slogans against Israel and burning the occupying regime's flags.
In a communiqué issued at the end of the rallies, the demonstrators renew the call for the liberation of Palestine from Israeli occupation as an ideal of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
They also vow support for the “path of resistance and intifada” against the Tel Aviv regime, stressing the need for strong unity among different Palestinian factions to speed up anti-Israel struggles.
The only solution to the Palestinian issue is facilitating the return of displaced Palestinians to their homeland and holding free elections for the nation to decide its fate.
The marchers also slam Israel’s “attempts to Judaize the occupied territories and destroy Palestine’s national and historical identity, calling on international institutions to help foil the regime’s plots by taking firm and practical measures.”
This year's International Quds Day was very important due to its coincidence with the US relocation of its embassy from from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds.
The US declared on May 14 the opening of its embassy in Jerusalem al-Quds.
Hours before the inauguration, Israeli troops opened fire on Palestinians who had gathered near a Gaza fence for the climax of a six-week demonstration. According to Gaza health officials, dozens of Palestinians, including children and teenagers, were shot dead and hundreds wounded by Israeli snipers who were positioned along the fence, facing the protesters.
The recent demonstrations and Israel’s violent response along the Gaza fence have left at least 120 Palestinians dead and about 13,300 others injured since March 30.