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This year's Quds Day rallies in Iran and other countries appeared to be far more significant as supporters of the Palestinian people all took to the streets to denounce the US embassy move and the recent killing and wounding of scores of Palestinians on the Gaza border by the Israeli occupiers.
The Independent wrote that protesters burned Israeli and American flags and an effigy of the US president, Donald Trump, on the streets of Tehran in response to his decision to relocate the US embassy to the holy city of al Quds (Jerusalem) from Tel Aviv, acknowledging it as the true Israeli capital in America's eyes.
The Independent then quoted Iran's President Hassan Rouhani as saying in his address, “This year’s Quds Day is special.”
'This year, in addition to being the 70th anniversary of the occupation of Palestinian land, we are witnessing that Jerusalem, which is respected by all Muslims, has been announced as the capital of the occupying Zionist Regime by the United States against all international rules and regulations,' President Rouhani was quoted as saying by the UK-based daily.
“This year, we are also witnessing more tyranny and crimes against the oppressed people of Palestine, especially the residents of Gaza,” it added, quoting the Iranian President.
Russia's Sputnik News Agency, on the other hand, provided its readers with snapshots taken from the Quds Day rally in Tehran, reporting, 'Thousands of people took to the streets of numerous Iranian cities to support the Palestinian state and oppose the Israeli occupation, as well condemn the violence that occurred during the Great March of Return and the US move to relocate its embassy to the disputed city of Jerusalem (al-Quds in Arabic).'
This year's mass anti-Israeli demonstrations are aimed at opposing the violence that erupted as a result of the clashes between the Israeli forces and the Palestinian protesters along the Gaza Strip border, Sputnik wrote.
Associated Press (AP), too, reported on the Quds Day demonstrations in Iran, referring to the history of the annual event.
Iran has marked al-Quds Day since the start of its 1979 Islamic Revolution, AP wrote, referring to declaration of the day by founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini in support of the Palestinian cause.
Iran does not recognize Israel and supports anti-Israeli groups such as Hamas, which rules Gaza, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, it said.
Agence France Presse (AFP), another flagship global news agency, wrote that the Iranians took to the streets on Quds Day, while the nation is under increasing pressures from Washington and its allies.
'Iran held its annual day of protest against Israel on Friday, determined to show defiance at a time of mounting pressure from the United States and its regional allies,' AFP wrote.
Quoting Iran Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, it wrote, 'The US, Saudi Arabia and Israel want to put Iran in a corner, but they don't know that with this action they are threatening their own security.'
The France-based news agency also described the overall atmosphere in the Tehran main streets during the demonstrations saying, 'The mood, as ever, was a mix of political rage and family fun, with children singing songs on stages and throwing darts at portraits of Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Salman.'
In the meantime, Chinese news agency Xinhua in its report on the Quds Day in Iran referred to the slogans chanted by the demonstrators and the outrage displayed by the demonstrators over the continued Israeli occupation as well as the US embassy move.
'The protesters chanted anti-Israeli and anti-US slogans and carried banners condemning Israel's continued occupation of Palestinian lands, Israel's killing of Gaza protesters and US moving embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,' Xinhua wrote.
Xinhua then quoted Larijani as saying that 'under the new plan, the United States and Israel do not want the Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland nor want to stop the Israeli settlement constructions in the West Bank'.
'They want to give money to Palestinians so that the people relinquish their right to return to their motherland, Larijani was quoted as saying by the news agency.
The Palestinian people have been fighting for 70 years, and their problem is not money, he was quoted as saying.
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