Tens of thousands stage surprise protests in Iran
Opposition leaders joined a rally. Their target, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, excoriated Israel.
TEHRAN, Iran - Tens of thousands of opposition protesters swarmed Tehran and at least two other Iranian cities yesterday, audaciously turning an annual rally in support of the Palestinian cause into the first major demonstration against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in six weeks.
"Not Gaza, not Lebanon, I'll sacrifice my life for Iran," chanted the protesters as they stretched out along the capital's wide boulevards.
Amateur video also showed thousands holding up green ribbons and shawls while rallying in Shiraz and Esfahan.
Ahmadinejad, whose disputed reelection three months ago triggered Iran's worst political domestic crisis in decades, ignored the protesters, who confronted him with chants of "Liar! Liar!" minutes before he delivered a blistering condemnation of Israel at Tehran University.
He repeated inflammatory statements questioning the Holocaust, saying Israel was founded on "lies" and blaming "Zionists" for ongoing wars in the Middle East.
"If the Holocaust you claim is correct, why do you reject any research about it?" he said in his remarks.
Ahmadinejad has stepped up his anti-Israel rhetoric at a time when Iran's nuclear program is under intense scrutiny and he is heading to the United Nations next week.
During an interview with NBC broadcast Thursday, Ahmadinejad declined to say categorically that Iran would never pursue a nuclear-weapons program, saying only, "We do not see any need for such weapons."
In the past, the president's anti-Israel statements have triggered a backlash overseas that has helped him rally domestic support. But with his disputed reelection, it is not clear Iranians again will rally to him.
State-controlled television showed thousands of Quds Day attendees in traditional Arab scarves holding posters of Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and chanting "Death to Israel."
The traditional rallying cry on this holiday has taken place on the last Friday of every Islamic-calendar month of Ramadan since the early years of Iran's 1979 revolution.
But the opposition stole the day. Its huge crowds illustrated the antigovernment movement's continued vitality despite a violent crackdown.
Opposition leader and presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, along with reformist leader Mehdi Karroubi and former President Mohamad Khatami, joined in the demonstration amid reports that their arrests were imminent.
Some opposition protesters nervously walked from metro stations into the streets, hiding green ribbons in their pockets, as they walked past helmeted riot police and hard-line pro-government Basij militiamen.
They chanted quietly at first. Eventually, their murmurs gave way to boisterous choruses, as those marching realized they were among thousands of fellow opposition supporters.