Iran Hold Anti-Trump Protests

Iranians Turn Out For Huge Rallies Against Trump; Leaders Issue New Threats To US
by Yochanan Visser
February 11, 2017 at 12:58pm

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets across the Islamic Republic on Friday to show their support for the Islamist regime of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani.

The demonstrators carried effigies of President Donald Trump and burned the American flag as well as the Israeli flag while chanting “death to America” and “death to the Zionist entity.”

The demonstrations were organized by the regime and were apparently Khamenei’s promised answer to the warnings issued by the U.S. over Iran’s tests with ballistic missiles and its expansionist policies in the Middle East.

The Iranian leader said Monday that “no enemy can paralyze the Iranian nation” and promised the Iranian people would respond to Trump’s warnings.

The demonstrations were organized to commemorate the 38th anniversary of the Iranian Islamic Revolution that toppled the regime of the U.S.-backed Shah Pahlavi.

One of the protesters told Iranian state television that “America and Trump cannot do a damn thing. We are ready to sacrifice our lives for our leader Khamenei.”

Rouhani, who the Obama Administration always touted as a moderate, joined the huge crowd in Tehran and made new threats against the U.S.

“Iranians will make those using threatening language against this nation regret it. Anyone threatening Iran’s government and armed forces should know that our nation is vigilant,” Rouhani told the crowd.

“This turnout is a response to false remarks by the new rulers in the White House and the people are telling the world through their presence that the Iranian people must be spoken to with respect,” Rouhani added.

Khamenei’s foreign policy adviser, Al Akbar Velayati, made his own contribution to the war of words with the United States.

Velayati threatened the U.S. with “dark days to come” in case of military action against Iran by the U.S..

“Washington does not dare carry out its military threats against Iran. The Americans know very well that Iran and its allies in the region would retaliate very hard. That will make America face dark days to come,” the Iranian top official said.

Velayati then said the U.S. must leave the Middle East completely.

“Trump and the American administration must get their stuff together and leave this region completely because the people of this region feel alienated by their policies,” according to Velayati.

Khamenei’s top advisor guaranteed Iran would continue to develop its military and especially its missile program.

“Without the slightest doubt, I can guarantee you that we will continue to develop our military programs, and especially our defense missile program, no matter what and at any cost,” Velayati defiantly promised while adding that Iran doesn’t have to worry about Trump warnings because the U.S. hasn’t been able “to do anything for 38 years since the Islamic Revolution.”

The Tehran Times, meanwhile, reported that Iran revealed new advanced missiles and rockets recently.

One of these missiles is an upgraded Fajr-5 rocket equipped with a guiding system. The old version of the missile was used by Hezbollah during the 2006 Second Lebanon War against Israel.

The influential defense magazine HIS Jane’s noted the new version of the Fajr-5 is a potentially significant development.

The Tehran Times reported Iran’s weapons production jumped a staggering 69 percent over the last three years.

The paper quoted Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Hossein Deqhan as saying that “over 115 types of defense systems and new military products have been manufactured and put to use,” by Iran since 2014.

Trump seemed little impressed by the new rhetoric and the news about the new Iranian missiles and the increase in the production of weaponry in the Islamic Republic.

The president had only four words to say about Rouhani’s new threat to the U.S.

“He better be careful,” Trump said.