Dubai: Hundreds of thousands of Iranians have marched and some burnt US and Israeli flags to mark the revolution’s 40th anniversary, as Tehran showed off ballistic missiles in defiance of US efforts to curb its military power.
Soldiers, students, clerics and black-clad women holding small children thronged streets across Iran, many with portraits of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Shiite cleric who toppled the Shah in an Islamic uprising that still haunts the West.
On February 11, 1979, Iran’s army declared its neutrality, paving the way for the fall of US-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
State television showed crowds carrying Iranian flags in cold rainy weather, shouting “Death to Israel, Death to America” – trademark chants of the revolution.
The Islamic Republic has vowed to increase its military strength despite mounting pressure from Western countries to curtail its ballistic missile program.
Those capabilities were on display during the march, including the Qadr F, a ground-to-ground missile with a 1950-kilometre range, the Tasnim news agency said.
Read the article in The Sydney Morning Herald.