TEHRAN: Tens of thousands of Iranians drove through Tehran on Friday to mark the 43rd anniversary of the country's Islamic Revolution, staying in vehicles rather than marching on foot because of COVID restrictions. Due to the pandemic, state television said that-again this year-there should be "no gathering or marching" by those celebrating the 1979 overthrow of the shah's regime.
Instead, people travelled by car, motorcycle and bicycle, to converge on the capital's iconic Azadi (Freedom) Square, despite chilly temperatures. Some had draped the red, white and green Iranian flag over their cars. Others chanted slogans of "Death to America" and "We will resist until the end" from windows as they drove by. They looped around the roundabout, before some got out of their vehicles to let loose balloons and take selfies in front of Azadi Tower, a massive monument at the city's western entrance.
A number of US flags were also burned by people chanting "We will not surrender", said an AFP photographer at the square. State television broadcast footage of similar rallies in other major cities, including Isfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz and Shiraz. Demonstrators bore portraits of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well as the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic republic, and revered general Qasem Soleimani, killed by a US air strike at Baghdad airport in January 2020.
This year's anniversary is the first since ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi took office in August. The celebrations mark the day that the shah's government fell after Shiite cleric Khomeini returned from exile. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had already fled Iran after months of protests against his rule. The coronavirus has infected more than 6.7 million people in Iran and killed more than 133,000, according to official figures. Iran, which has a population of around 85 million, is the Middle East country hardest hit by the pandemic.
Nearly 55 million people have so far received two doses of anti-COVID vaccines. Alongside the pandemic, Iran's economy has been battered by sanctions reimposed by the United States since 2018, when then-president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal. Iran is currently engaged in negotiations with Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia directly and with the United States indirectly to revive the agreement formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.- AFP