Iran staged anti-Israel rallies across the country on Friday, with protesters condemning Israel's "occupation of Palestinian territories" and chanting "Death to Israel" as the powerful Revolutionary Guard displayed its ballistic missiles, including the type used this week in Syria. According to a number of Iranian media outlets, millions of Iranians took to the streets to mark the annual event on Friday. Marchers in Tehran headed from various points of the city toward the Friday prayer ceremony at Tehran University campus grounds. Protesters burned the Israeli flag and effigies of Israeli leaders. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and other Iranian officials attended the demonstration. State media reported that similar rallies were underway in other cities and towns in Iran. The anti-Israel rallies are an annual event marking Al-Quds Day. ("Al-Quds" is the Arabic name for Jerusalem.) Iran sees it as an occasion to express support for the Palestinians and emphasize the importance of Jerusalem for Muslims. Iran doesn't recognize Israel and staunchly backs militant groups that are opposed to it, including the Palestinian Hamas that runs the Gaza Strip and the Lebanese Shiite militant Hezbollah group. Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard on Friday displayed three surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, including the Zolfaghar -- the type that Iran used this week to target the Islamic State group in Syria. The Guard said it fired six such missiles on Sunday at Islamic State targets in the city of Deir ez-Zor, more than 600 kilometers (370 miles) away. Another missile on display was the Ghadr, with a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) that can reach both Israel and U.S. bases in the region. Iran holds Al-Quds Day rallies held each year on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends this weekend. Iran has marked the day since the start of its 1979 Islamic Revolution, when the country cut relations with Israel.
The Guard said the Iranian airstrike in Syria was in retaliation for an Islamic State attack earlier in June on Iran's parliament and a shrine in Tehran that killed 18 people and wounded more than 50.
Millions attend anti-Israel al-Quds Day rallies in Iran
Marchers across Iran chant "Death to Israel," burn Israeli flags and effigies of Israeli leaders • Iran's Revolutionary Guard displays its missiles, including Ghadr, with a range of 1,250 miles, that can reach both Israel and U.S. bases in the region.
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