Iran has marked the 45th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution amid ongoing tensions in the wider Middle East over Israel's continued war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
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Thousands of Iranians marched through major streets and squares decorated with flags, balloons and banners carrying revolutionary and religious slogans on Sunday.
In Tehran, crowds waved Iranian flags, chanted slogans, and carried placards with the traditional "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" written on them.
Some burned US and Israeli flags, a common practice in pro-government rallies.
Processions started out from several points, converging at Azadi Square. State TV showed crowds in many cities and towns, claiming that "millions participated in the rallies" across the country.
The military displayed a range of its missiles, including the Qassem Soleimani and Sejjil ballistic missiles, and the Simorgh satellite carrier at the square where people took selfies with them.
During the celebrations, a paratrooper jumped from a plane while displaying a Palestinian flag.
There was a heavy security presence in major cities across the country.
The anniversary came a month after a deadly attack by the extremist Islamic State group in the central city of Kerman that left at least 95 people dead during commemorations for prominent Iranian general Qassem Soleimani whom the US killed in a drone strike in 2020.
Iran has tried to blame the US and Israel for the attack as the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip continued.
The Islamic Republic launched missile attacks on Iraq and Syria. It then struck alleged anti-Iran Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl targets in nuclear-armed Pakistan, which responded with its own strikes on Iran, further raising tensions in a region inflamed by the Israel-Hamas war.
The Islamic Revolution began with widespread unrest in Iran over the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The shah, secretly terminally ill with cancer, fled the country in January 1979.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini then returned from exile and the government fell on February 11 1979, after days of mass demonstrations and confrontations between protesters and security forces.
Australian Associated Press
