Tens of thousands of demonstrators poured into the streets across Iran, Iraq and Lebanon on Friday after midday prayers, in a sweeping display of fury toward Israel amid a rapidly widening regional conflict.
In Tehran, the Iranian capital, crowds surged from mosques into central squares, trampling and burning Israeli and American flags while holding aloft portraits of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Chants of “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” rang out from the sea of demonstrators as they marched in what Iranian state media called protests of “rage and victory.” Similar demonstrations in support of the country’s military were also reported in at least half a dozen other Iranian cities, including Tabriz and Mashhad.
The protests unfolded as Israel and Iran continued to trade fire despite a renewed diplomatic push in Geneva, where European leaders met with Iran’s foreign minister to present a proposal aimed at de-escalating the conflict. Earlier on Friday, Israel said it had carried out overnight strikes on missile factories and a research center linked to Iran’s nuclear program. Hours later, Iran launched a fresh barrage of missiles toward Israeli cities.
In Iraq, thousands gathered on Friday in Baghdad’s Sadr City district — a stronghold of the powerful Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, who has at times resisted Iranian influence — to denounce Israel and express solidarity with Iran. Under the blistering sun, many protesters wore white burial shrouds, a Shiite symbol of martyrdom, and some burned Israeli and American flags.
In Basra and Najaf, two other Shiite-majority cities in Iraq, crowds echoed similarly defiant sentiments.
In the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, where the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah holds sway, supporters also staged rallies, marching amid the rubble of neighborhoods heavily damaged during Hezbollah’s recent war with Israel.
People in the crowds pumped their fists as they pledged support for Mr. Khamenei, an ally of Hezbollah’s former leader, Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike last year.
Still reeling from its recent war with Israel, Hezbollah — Iran’s most powerful regional ally — has for now indicated privately that it does not intend to intervene in Iran’s conflict with Israel, according to senior Lebanese officials and Western diplomats.
Leily Nikounazar contributed reporting.
Euan Ward is a reporter contributing to The Times from Beirut.
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