Iran condemns Israeli policies at "Quds Day" rallies

Iran condemns Israeli policies at "Quds Day" rallies Tehran  - Iran on Friday harshly condemned Israeli policies in the Palestinian territories amid anti-Israel "Quds Day" rallies in the capital Tehran and other parts of the country.

According to state media, hundreds of thousands of people attended the state-run annual rallies.

The late supreme leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, had declared the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan as Quds (Jerusalem) Day and called for mass rallies against Israel and in support of Palestine.

Iran does not recognize the Israeli state and considers its government the main root of all the problems in the Middle East.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has even called for the removal of the Jewish state from the Middle East and relocation to Europe or North America.

Thousands of opposition supporters availed themselves of opportunity the anti-Israeli rally and renewed their protests against Ahmadinejad despite heavy deployment of police and security in downtown Tehran.

According to witnesses, the Green Movement supporting opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi - green being the colour symbolizing protest and the need for political change - attended the rallies.

Citicizing the government's Middle-East policies, they shouted "Neither Gaza, nor Lebanon, our lives only get sacrificed for Iran."

They also shouted "Death to Dictator," "Freedom, Freedom," and "Don't be afraid, we are all together."

Friday's protests were the first since mid-July by the opposition supporters who accuse the government of fraud in the June 12 election which led to Ahmadinejad's re-election.

The highlight of Quds Day will be the Friday prayer at the Tehran University where Ahmadinejad will hold the first sermon and Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami the main sermon. (dpa)