HUNDREDS of thousands of Iranians marched through the capital Tehran yesterday pledging to take up arms in the largest demonstration since the US and Israel attacked in February.
Volunteers in combat uniform paraded through central Tehran under the banner ‘Janfaday-e Iran’, those who sacrifice their lives for Iran, watched by President Masoud Pezeshkian and military commanders.
Tehran Guards chief General Hassan Hassanzadeh said more than 600,000 people had registered for military training, with over a million expected to take part; the state broadcaster put yesterday’s crowd above 300,000.
New Basij head Hossein Taeb said the trainees would be ready for ‘full-fledged defence’ and would be a ‘nightmare’ for Iran’s enemies, with rallies to follow in other cities.
‘I am here to tell Trump that we Iranians have no fear about his threats against our homeland,’ said Marzieh Afaghi, 24, who came with her husband and toddler.
‘No-one in history could invade Iran and remain there.’
Anti-aircraft batteries and the drones used against shipping in the Strait of Hormuz were on display.
The Guards said they struck the Togo-flagged tanker Trend for an ‘illegal attempt’ to pass through the strait, warning that unauthorised passage would mean the ‘destruction’ of offending vessels.
The Guards shot down a 53rd US MQ-9 Reaper over Qeshm Island on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran found on Thursday that the United States likely committed war crimes in its 28 February strikes on Minab and Lamerd, which killed at least 178 civilians, in a report going to the Human Rights Council.
It ruled that the Minab primary school’s ‘civilian nature is apparent’ and that ‘the US failed in its obligation to do everything feasible to verify that it was a military objective’, citing ‘child-oriented murals painted on exterior walls, school signage, and playground areas’ and satellite imagery showing children in the courtyard.
The Lamerd sports centre was ‘visibly separate’ from a nearby Guards compound. The mission called on both governments to end hostilities and pay reparations to victims.
