Iranian protesters were pictured burning American and Isreali flags on the streets of Tehran as crowds gathered for Al Quds day. According to the reports, a large number of protesters gathered for the annual celebration in support of the Palestinian cause, with marches and patriotic celebrations.
The video captured from inside Iran shows thousands of people on the streets burning US and Israeli flags as crowds chant “death to America” and “death to Israel”. The Quds Day march is an annual pro-Palestinian event announced by revolutionary leader Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979. It falls on the last Friday of Ramadan and is observed worldwide by pro-Palestine groups.
Khomeini presented the initiative as a worldwide appeal for Muslims to unite in support of Palestinians and to oppose Israeli authority over Jerusalem.
In the UK, this idea has contemporary relevance as a planned pro‑Palestinian Al Quds Day march scheduled for Sunday has been prohibited by the Government, which says the ban is necessary to prevent serious public disorder.
In a statement, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “I am satisfied that doing so is necessary to prevent serious public disorder, due to the scale of the protest and multiple counter-protests, in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“Should a stationary demonstration proceed, the police will be able to apply strict conditions. I expect to see the full force of the law applied to anyone spreading hatred and division instead of exercising their right to peaceful protest.”
Later addressing the House of Commons, Mahmood told MPs she “reveres” the “precious” right to protest in the UK, and stressed this ban is “narrowly focused on specific circumstances in a unique moment”.
It come as Iran carried out a series of strikes early Friday against several Gulf Arab states, launching dozens of drones toward Saudi Arabia after its new supreme leader warned regional governments about hosting American military bases.
In response, US President Donald Trump issued a sharp warning of significant new retaliation, underscoring how quickly the confrontation was escalating.
“Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today,” Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. “Iran’s Navy is gone, their Air Force is no longer, missiles, drones and everything else are being decimated, and their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth.”