Top Iran officials attend Tehran march despite attacks
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The attendance by Mr Ali Larijani was one of the most high-profile public appearances by an Iranian official since the Feb 28 Israeli-US attacks on Tehran.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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TEHRAN – Senior Iranian officials, including the president, on March 13 openly attended a mass rally in Tehran despite Israeli-US attacks, with national security chief Ali Larijani dismissing the latest strikes on the capital as being “out of desperation”.
State TV showed President Masoud Pezeshkian greeting supporters and even having selfies taken on the rain-spattered streets of Tehran at annual Quds Day rally in support of the Palestinian cause.
Other key officials attending in an open show of defiance included judiciary chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, national police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to state TV images.
“These attacks are out of fear, out of desperation. One who is strong wouldn’t bomb demonstrations at all. It’s clear that it has failed,” Mr Larijani told state TV.
Striking a defiant tone, he said US President Donald Trump “doesn’t understand that the Iranian people are a brave nation, a strong nation, a determined nation. The more he presses, the stronger the nation’s determination will become”.
Their presence was the most high-profile public showing by Iranian officials since the Feb 28 strike that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials.
Huge explosions rocked central Tehran on March 13 in an area not far from where the demonstration was being held, state television said. At least one person, a woman, was killed, state media said.
A Quds Day rally in Tehran on March 13, which was attended by Iran’s national security chief Ali Larijani and other top officials.
PHOTO: EPA
One blast was heard as Mr Ejei was speaking to state TV. “Our people are not afraid of the bombing, we will continue along this route,” he said.
Mr Araghchi, for his part, blamed the actions of Israel and the US for the hike in global energy prices, saying “they created this disaster for the region and must be held accountable”.
Holding images of Mr Ali Khamenei and his son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei, people marched through Tehran in the annual show of support for the Palestinian cause and show of opposition to Israel, trampling on images of Mr Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to AFP journalists.
Mr Mojtaba Khamenei, who according to state media and some officials, sustained injuries in the attacks at the start of the war, on March 12 issued his first declaration since being named but has yet to appear in public. AFP
