From the Liveblog of
Sunday, February 11, 2024
On anniversary of Islamic Revolution, Iran’s Raisi calls for Israel to be expelled from the UN
In a televised speech marking 45 years since the Islamic Revolution, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi accuses Tehran’s arch-foe the United States, and other Western countries, of backing “the Zionist regime’s [Israel] crimes against humanity in Gaza.”
He calls on the United Nations to expel “the Zionist regime,” as the crowds chant: “Death to Israel.”
“The bombing of Gaza has to be stopped as soon as possible,” he adds.
Iranian state TV says millions have turned out at rallies and shows large crowds chanting “Death to Israel, Death to America!” — a common practice during state-organized rallies on the anniversary of the 1979 revolution that toppled the US-backed monarch.
State media publishes a picture of some marchers hanging an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by a noose.
As part of the festivities, the military displays a range of its missiles, including the Qassem Soleimani and Sejjil ballistic missiles, the Simorgh satellite carrier and drones at the square where people take selfies with them.
