Iran Holds State-Sponsored Nationwide Anti-Israel Rallies

Iranians are expressing growing discontent with the government's annual Quds Day rallies, with many viewing them as irrelevant to their daily struggles. Messages sent to Iran International revealed a deep disconnect between the state-sponsored event and public sentiment.

Iranian media photos depict a group of Islamic Republic security forces on horseback, carrying firearms and cold weapons, during the state-organized Quds Day rally in Tehran.

The leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah of Lebanon gave a televised address during a rally marking the Quds Day in Beirut's southern suburbs.

"Be certain, be sure, that the Iranian response to the targeting of the consulate in Damascus is definitely coming against Israel," Hassan Nasrallah said.

He called the Damascus strike on Monday a "turning point" since October 7, when Palestinian group Hamas -- another Iran-backed militia -- launched an attack on Israel, killed 1,200 mostly civilians and took 240 hostages, igniting the Middle East current conflict.

Photos circulating on social media show Nigerians participating in Quds Day rallies in Tehran. This has sparked discussion among Iranians online, with some suggesting the government used foreign nationals to boost attendance due to lower domestic participation.

Iranian government officials and state media claim that millions have joined the Quds Day marches across the country. However, in recent years, independent analysis of images has revealed much lower participation rates than what the government asserts.

Today, images depict relatively large crowds in the streets. It's worth noting that the Islamic Republic has made a concerted effort this year to increase attendance at the Quds Day rallies in response to the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which Tehran has vocally supported and praised.

The Islamic Republic has a long history of using propaganda to advance its goals. One of the common methods in this regard is broadcasting older footage showing a larger crowd in state ceremonies, especially during nationwide demonstrations for Quds Day and the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution on February 11.

A senior Iranian official declared Tehran's resolve to retaliate for the deadly Israeli airstrike on the Iranian embassy's consular section in Damascus.

During Quds Day Rallies, Mohsen Rezaee a member of Iran's Expediency Council,reiterated Tehran’s firm decision to avenge the attack, which killed seven IRGC members, including a high-ranking general.

"The Iranian people can be certain that the Zionist regime will face a response that will make it deeply regret targeting IRGC forces," he asserted.

This statement echoes the message delivered by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei earlier this week, who vowed that Iran will make Israel regret its "crime."

Hours after the attack on Monday night, President Ebrahim Raisi presided over a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council. According to a statement by the council, “appropriate decisions were made” regarding the retaliation.

Conflict has rippled across the Middle East since the start of the Gaza war. Up until now, Tehran has cautiously steered clear of direct confrontation with Israel while supporting allies engaged in attacks on Israeli and US targets.

Ziad Nakhaleh, Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, and Abu Fadak al-Muhammadawi, Deputy Chairman of the Popular Mobilization Forces, took part at the Quds Day rally in Tehran.

The PIJ, like Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, have become full-fledged Iranian proxies, receiving Iranian funding, training, sophisticated equipment, and, most importantly, Tehran’s instructions on their confrontation with Israel.

Iraqi Shiite Muslims from the Popular Mobilization Units (Hashd al-Shaabi) was established back in 2014, following a fatwa (a decree or ruling in Islamic sharia law) by influential Iraqi religious authority, Ali al-Sistani, to fight ISIS, which controlled four governorates and reached the borders of the capital Baghdad at the time. The Iraqi state-sponsored umbrella organization is composed of approximately 67 different armed factions, with around 128,000 fighters that are mostly Shia Muslim groups, but also include Sunni Muslim, Christian, and Yazidi groups.

The chief commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Hossein Salami, warned during his Friday Quds Day speech that no attack on “our sacred system [regime] will remain unanswered.”

Salami was speaking just five days after an Israeli precision air strike killed two top IRGC generals and five other officers, who were meeting in the Islamic Republic’s embassy in Damascus.

Iran’s Supreme Leader and other top officials have vowed a harsh response to Israel at a time of Tehran’s own choosing. While many doubt a direct attack against Israel, there is a high degree of concern about Iranian proxies or agents abroad conducting retaliatory operations against Israel.

Salami also claimed that Hamas has sent messages from Gaza that it can defeat Israel, telling Tehran not to be concerned.

The IRGC commander also railed against the United States for having long supported Israel, reiterating the Islamic Republic’s public stance that American power is waning and US influence in the Middle East is weakening.

"The Zionist regime is being kept alive by America's artificial respiration, and it is breathing in the special political, security, and mental intensive care unit of America. Whenever the West's artificial respiration apparatus is removed from the Zionist regime's nose, it will wither and collapse, and this is close, not far,” Salami insisted.

At a critical event reaffirming allegiance to a cornerstone of the Islamic Republic's foreign policy – the destruction of Israel – attendance is nigh mandatory for the regime's inner circle. From the president and cabinet down to prominent politicians with their entourages, these high-ranking officials are a constant presence at the rallies.

Iran held a funeral on Friday for seven officers killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Syrian capital Damascus this week, an unprecedented attack for which Tehran has vowed to take revenge.

State television showed demonstrators carrying pictures of those killed and banners with slogans such as "Death to Israel" and "Death to America".

Among the most salient programs during the day is burning Israeli, US, UK and flags of other countries that the Islamic Republic deems as enemies, no matter their role in the conflict between Israel and Palestinians. Effigies of Western officials in chains are also among the sights of the regime’s carnival of hate.

Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif, the spokesman of Iran's Revolutionary Guards who is also the director-general of Intifada (uprising) headquarters in Tehran, said pro-Palestine rallies are held in more than 2,000 locations across the country.

In Tehran, the rallies included a funeral procession for the IRGC-Quds Force members killed in an Israeli airstrike on Tehran’s consulate in the Mezzeh neighborhood in Damascus on Monday.

This year’s rallies take place as Israel is fighting against Iran-backed Islamist group Hamas, which attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 mostly civilians and taking over 250 hostages. The operation, codenamed al-Aqsa Flood, has sparked the biggest Middle East conflict in years. Iran’s proxy forces in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon have increased their attacks on US and Israeli targets in allegiance with Hamas to pressure Israel into a ceasefire.

The Iranian government has started its annual anti-Israel parade Friday, reiterating threats against Israel. The state-sponsored event is held guised as defending the rights of Palestinians but serves as a phenomenon to perpetuate antisemitic and anti-Israel propaganda among the Muslim world under the auspices of a collective cause propagated by Iran's ruler Ali Khamenei.

The day, which takes its name from the Arabic-language name for Jerusalem, is often described as the official demonstration in support of the Revolutionary Guards Quds (Qods) Force – an IRGC division primarily responsible for extraterritorial military and clandestine operations – because it seeks to justify the Islamic Republic’s destabilizing activities across the region.

Directed against Israel’s existence, Al-Quds Day was proclaimed by the founder of the Islamic Republic Ruhollah Khomeini on 7 August 1979. He called on Muslims worldwide to unite in solidarity against Israel and in support of the Palestinians, saying the "liberation" of Jerusalem was a “religious duty to all Muslims”.