Tehran, Nov 3 (IANS) Hossein Salami, chief commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), on Sunday said the US policies are to blame for the terrorism and divisions in the Muslim world.
Salami made the remarks at a rally to mark the 45th anniversary of the former US embassy takeover in Tehran and the “National Day of the Fight against Global Arrogance,” also known as the “National Student Day”.
Speaking at the gathering, the IRGC chief commander stressed that the “phenomenon of Takfiri (extremist) terrorism and bloody divisions in the Muslim world” were all outcomes of the US policies, Xinhua news agency reported.
Salami described the US as a “paradoxical identity,” according to the official news agency IRNA.
He added while the US spoke of global peace, security, and order, it was the source of all “crimes, massacres and occupations” in the world.
Iranians took to the streets on Sunday, staging a march to the premises of the former US embassy, chanting slogans against the US and Israel.
The demonstrators waved flags of Iran, Hezbollah, and Palestine, as well as pictures of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and slain leaders and commanders of Iran and the regional resistance groups.
At the end of the rally, the demonstrators issued a statement vowing allegiance to Iran’s supreme leader and condemning Israel’s “crimes” in Gaza and Lebanon, “which are being perpetrated with the direct participation and support of the US.”
They also called on the international community to work towards the achievement of ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon.
A few months after the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in February 1979, Iranian university students took over the US embassy building, saying that the embassy was, based on the documents found in it, planning to overthrow the Islamic Republic and serving as an espionage base for the US government.
Iran commemorates the takeover every year by holding nationwide rallies.
–IANS
int/khz
