Iranians burn and trample on Israeli and US flags while calling for the Jewish state’s destruction in mass pro-Hezbollah demonstrations
Thousands of angry Iranians burned and trampled Israeli and American flags during a protest in Tehran on Friday against Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Gaza.
Widespread airstrikes in southern Lebanon and the capital Beirut have killed hundreds, including civilians, children and paramedics, in just a few days.
Iranian officials had called on the nation on Wednesday to demonstrate in support of the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon “and to condemn the barbaric crimes of the Zionist regime in Palestine,” the official IRNA news agency said.
In Tehran, a protest took place around Enghelab Square in the city center after Friday prayers, with demonstrators carrying portraits of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and Palestinian and Hezbollah flags.
‘Israel is being destroyed. Lebanon is victorious,” the demonstrators chanted, deploring “a massacre in Lebanon” as they burned Israeli and American flags.
Protesters burn an image of the American flag today during a demonstration against Israel’s attacks on Gaza and Lebanon in Tehran, Iran
‘Israel is being destroyed. Lebanon has won,” Iranian protesters chanted as they burned Israeli and American flags this afternoon
In the capital, citizens marched to Inqilap Square after Friday prayers at Tehran University with banners in support of the Palestinians and Lebanon
State television broadcast images of other demonstrations in Semnan, Qom, Kashan, Kermanshah, Shiraz and Bandar Abbas.
Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, sparking a war with Israel and almost daily cross-border fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon against Israel, which hit back.
These exchanges have intensified dramatically over the past week. Israeli attacks on Lebanon since Monday have killed hundreds of people in the deadliest violence since Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 41,500 Palestinians and injured more than 96,000 others, according to the latest figures released Thursday by the Health Ministry.
Nearly 800 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon in the past week, according to Lebanese figures.
Ongoing fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes on both sides of the border.
As the violence escalates, analysts say Iran is walking a tightrope as it tries to support Hezbollah without being drawn into a full-blown conflict and playing into the enemy’s hands.
Protests come after widespread airstrikes in southern Lebanon and the capital Beirut left hundreds dead in just a few days, including civilians, children and paramedics.
As the violence escalates, analysts say Iran is walking a tightrope in trying to support Hezbollah without being drawn into full-blown conflict.
Hezbollah is part of the “Axis of Resistance,” Iran-related armed groups in the Middle East that have targeted Israel, as well as U.S. forces, in support of Palestinian militants Hamas.
It comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stark warning to Iran in his UN address today at the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, saying Israel could strike anywhere in the country if it is provoked.
“My country is at war and fighting for its life,” Netanyahu said in a speech to the UN General Assembly.
‘We must defend ourselves against these ferocious killers. Our enemies are not just trying to destroy us, they are trying to destroy our common civilization and return us all to a dark age of tyranny and terror.”
In a message addressed to “the tyrants of Tehran,” he added: “If you hit us, we will hit you.”
“There is no place in Iran where Israel’s long arm cannot reach. And that applies to the entire Middle East.’
“We are winning,” Netanyahu added triumphantly, as Israel continues to bomb Lebanon as part of its campaign against Hezbollah.
Protesters gathered outside the UN and condemned Netanyahu, who has vowed to continue the fight against Hamas until “total victory” is achieved.
It comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stark warning to Iran in his UN address today, saying Israel could strike anywhere in the country if provoked.
An image shows damage at the site of the Israeli attack in Saksakiyeh, southern Lebanon, September 27, 2024
Smoke rises over southern Lebanon after an Israeli attack, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Tyre, Lebanon, September 27, 2024
Anti-war activists gather outside the hotel where Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu – who is in town for the annual sessions of the UN General Assembly – is staying
He further said of Israel’s war against Hamas and Hezbollah: “We will fight until we achieve victory, a total victory, there is no substitute for that.”
His speech was received with cheers from some allies in the audience, as well as cheers, with several delegates walking out as he took the stage.
Netanyahu said he had not planned to come to New York to address the UN meeting this year, but felt compelled to do so “to set the record straight” after what he called “the lies and slander that expressed against my country by many of the speakers. on this stage.’
The two speakers who preceded Netanyahu on Friday each made a point of calling Israel out for its actions.
“Mr. Netanyahu, stop this war now,” Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said as he concluded his speech and pounded the podium.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated about Gaza just before the Israeli leader: ‘This is not just a conflict. This is a systematic slaughter of innocent people in Palestine.”