Thousands of angry Iranians burned and trampled Israeli and American flags during a protest in Tehran on Friday against Israel’s attacks on Lebanon and Gaza.
Widespread airstrikes in southern Lebanon and the capital Beirut have left hundreds dead, including civilians, children and paramedics, in just a few days.
Iranian officials had on Wednesday called on the nation 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, after Friday prayers, a protest took place around Enghelab Square in the city center, as protesters carried portraits of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah as well as Palestinian and Hezbollah flags.
‘Israel is destroyed. “Lebanon has won,” protesters chanted, deploring “a bloodbath in Lebanon” as they burned Israeli and American flags.
Protesters burn a representation of the American flag during a demonstration against Israel’s attacks on Gaza and Lebanon in Tehran, Iran, today.
‘Israel is destroyed. “Lebanon has emerged victorious,” chanted Iranian protesters as they burned Israeli and American flags this afternoon.
In the capital, after Friday prayers at the University of Tehran, citizens marched towards Inqilap Square 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 has responded.
Those exchanges have intensified dramatically over the past week. Israeli attacks in 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, according to the latest figures released Thursday by the Health Ministry.
According to Lebanese figures, almost 800 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes against Lebanon over the past week.
Continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes on both sides of the border.
As violence escalates, analysts say Iran is walking a tightrope in trying to support Hezbollah without being drawn into a full-blown conflict and without falling into its enemy’s game.
The protests come after widespread airstrikes in southern Lebanon and the capital Beirut left hundreds dead, including civilians, children and paramedics, in just a few days.
As violence increases, analysts say Iran is walking a tightrope in trying to support Hezbollah without being drawn into a full-blown conflict.
Hezbollah is part of the ‘Axis of Resistance’, Iran-aligned armed groups across the Middle East that have attacked Israel, and also US forces, in support of Palestinian Hamas militants.
It comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stark warning to Iran in his UN speech today at the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, saying Israel can strike anywhere inside the country if it is provoked.
“My country is at war, fighting for its life,” Netanyahu said in a speech to the UN General Assembly.
‘We must defend ourselves from these savage murderers. Our enemies not only seek to destroy us, they seek to destroy our common civilization and return us all to a dark age of tyranny and terror.’
He added in a message addressed to “the tyrants of Tehran”: “if they hit us, we will hit them.”
‘There is no place in Iran where Israel’s long arm cannot reach. And that goes for 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 in front of the UN condemning Netanyahu, who has vowed to continue the battle against Hamas until “total victory” is achieved.
It comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stark warning to Iran in his speech to the UN today, saying Israel can attack anywhere inside the country if provoked.
A view shows damage at the site of the Israeli attack in Saksakiyeh, southern Lebanon, on September 27, 2024.
Smoke rises over southern Lebanon following an Israeli attack, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Tyre, Lebanon, on September 27, 2024.
Anti-war activists demonstrate in front of the hotel where Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is staying, who is in the city to attend the annual sessions of the UN General Assembly.
He went on to say regarding Israel’s war against Hamas and Hezbollah: “We will fight until we achieve victory, total victory, there is no substitute for it.”
His speech was met with applause from some allies in the audience, but also with boos, and several delegates left when he took the stage.
Netanyahu said he had no intention of coming to New York to address the UN Assembly this year, but felt compelled to do so “to set the record straight” after what he called “the lies and slander directed against my country by many of the speakers. on this podium.”
The two speakers who preceded Netanyahu on Friday insisted on criticizing Israel for its actions.
“Mr. Netanyahu, stop this war now,” Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said as he closed his remarks, pounding the podium.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, speaking just before the Israeli leader, declared of Gaza: ‘This is not just a conflict. This is a systematic killing of innocent people of Palestine.’