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Thousands of Iranians massed on Tuesday for commemorations marking 41 years since the Islamic Revolution, in a show of unity at a time of heightened tensions with the United States.<\/p>\n
Waving flags of Iran and holding portraits of the founder of the Islamic republic, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, they converged on Tehran’s Azadi Square despite chilly temperatures.<\/p>\n
“Death to America” and “We will resist until the end,” read some of the banners carried by those in the crowd.<\/p>\n
“Iran is looking forward to creating another epic,” read the news ticker on state television, which called for a massive turnout.<\/p>\n
The celebrations mark the day that Shiite cleric Khomeini returned from exile and ousted the shah’s last government.<\/p>\n
The state has appealed for a strong turnout as a show of solidarity after a year in which Iran has been shaken by protests and military tensions with the United States.<\/p>\n
“Securing our country and our region depends on our unity, and participation in this rally is a symbol of this unity,” Hadi Khamenei, brother of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on state television.<\/p>\n
Iran’s economy has been battered since US President Donald Trump in 2018 abandoned an international nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions and a stated campaign of “maximum pressure”.<\/p>\n
When Iran raised petrol prices in November, nationwide protests erupted and turned violent before security forces put them down amid a near-total internet blackout.<\/p>\n
Tensions with Washington escalated in early January when a US drone strike killed powerful Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.<\/p>\n
Iran retaliated by targeting US forces but then accidentally shot down a Ukrainian airliner, killing all 176 people on board, in a tragedy that sparked anger at home and abroad.<\/p>\n
Soleimani’s daughter Zeinab was to address the crowd at Azadi Square on Tuesday, followed by President Hassan Rouhani.<\/p>\n
This year’s anniversary also comes ahead of crucial parliamentary elections in Iran.<\/p>\n
The alliance of moderates and reformers that propelled Rouhani to power in 2013 is scrambling to avoid losing its majority in the February 21 election.<\/p>\n
Rouhani’s government has come under intense pressure from conservatives for agreeing the 2015 nuclear deal that has unravelled since Trump’s decision to withdraw from it and reimpose crippling sanctions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n