Camilla Jessen
Crowds burn US and Israeli flags at Tehran Al-Quds Day rally.
Large crowds gathered in Tehran for annual Al-Quds Day demonstrations, where protesters burned U.S. and Israeli flags and chanted anti-Western slogans.
The event, held each year in support of the Palestinian cause, drew thousands of people to the streets of the Iranian capital.
Footage from the protests showed crowds waving Iranian flags and marching through the city.
Participants set fire to American and Israeli flags while chanting slogans including “death to America” and “death to Israel,” according to reports cited by the Mirror.
Protesters also burned makeshift coffins displaying images of U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Al-Quds Day was first declared in 1979 by Iran’s revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The event takes place on the final Friday of Ramadan and is intended to show solidarity with Palestinians and opposition to Israeli control of Jerusalem.
Pro-Palestinian groups around the world also organize demonstrations on the day.
UK march banned
In the United Kingdom, a planned Al-Quds Day march in London has been banned by the government.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood approved a request from the Metropolitan Police to prohibit the event, citing concerns about public disorder.
Officials said the scale of the planned demonstration and the possibility of counter-protests created significant security risks.
Mahmood said she believed banning the march was necessary.
“I am satisfied doing so is necessary to prevent serious public disorder, due to the scale of the protest and multiple counter-protests, in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East,” she said.
She added that if any stationary protest were allowed, strict conditions would apply.
The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), which organizes the London demonstration, said the event has traditionally been peaceful.
The group said the march is normally “good natured and peaceful.”
The ban marks the first time a protest march has been prohibited in London in more than a decade.
Sources: The Mirror, UK government statements, Daily Star
