Thousands of Iranians massed on Tuesday for commemorations marking 41 years since the Islamic Revolution.
本周二数千伊朗人举行伊斯兰革命胜利41周年庆祝活动。
Waving flags of Iran and holding portraits of the
founder1 of the Islamic republic, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, they
converged2 on Tehran's Azadi Square despite
chilly3 temperatures.
"Death to America" and "We will resist until the end," read some of the banners carried by those in the crowd.
The celebrations marked the day that Shiite cleric Khomeini returned from exile and
ousted4 the shah's last government.
The state has appealed for a strong turnout as a show of
solidarity5 after a year in which Iran has been shaken by protests and military tensions with the US.
"Securing our country and our region depends on our unity, and
participation6 in this rally is a symbol of this unity," Hadi Khamenei, brother of Iran's
supreme7 leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on state television.
Tensions with Washington
escalated8 in early January when a US drone strike killed powerful Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad, capital of Iraq.
Iran
retaliated9 by targeting US forces but then accidentally shot down a Ukrainian
airliner10,
killing11 all 176 people on board, in a tragedy that sparked anger at home and abroad.