Iranian protesters chanted “death to Palestine” in Tehran on Monday as they rallied against their government's economic policies.
The Iranian people have taken to the streets to express their anger towards their government and its crumbling economy, citing specifically their government’s support for Palestine and Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
MUST-WATCH: Crowds in Iran are chanting "Death to Palestine!" Not to Israel. Not to America. But to Palestine.
— Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) June 25, 2018
Hamas and Hezbollah and Palestinian Jihad can kiss their Iranian funding goodbye if the regime falls. https://t.co/XM5CFAvjEH
Despite its citizens' views, the Iranian government under President Hassan Rouhani supports Palestine against Israel, even the funding of terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
Protestors on Monday marched towards parliament in the nation’s capital, chanting “leave Syria alone” and “death to the dictator.”
Footage shows an attempt by the Iranian police to disrupt the protests, even using tear gas.
#IranProtests update from Tehran: Iran regime fires teargas as thousands of protesters march toward Parliament with chants of "Leave Syria alone. Think of us instead" & "Death to the dictator". The world can support them in the diaspora's June 30 #FreeIran2018 convention in Paris pic.twitter.com/SGOE5e20ck
— M. Hanif Jazayeri (@HanifJazayeri) June 25, 2018
The demonstrations come months after thousands of Iranian citizens protested in late December of last year into early January. It was the nation’s largest protest since 2009. However, the 2017-2018 protests, which resulted in 25 people killed and 5,000 arrested, did not have a tremendous presence in Tehran, the nation’s capital, where the current protest is taking place.
In an attempt to pin the blame elsewhere, Iran’s first vice president, Eshaq Jahangiri, took little time Monday to bash the United States in a statement according to the Etemad daily newspaper.
“We’re on the verge of an economic war by an economic terrorist,” he said, referring to the U.S. “Conditions will get worse in future… Even our friends and neighbors like Russia, China and Europeans can’t help us today.”
Despite the actions of Rouhani’s regime and the current state of the country, the Associated Press referred to the leader as a “relative moderate” in their report today — an Obama inspired talking point used to justify the Iran nuclear deal.