Ankara,
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians rallied on Sunday to mark the anniversary of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, denouncing the United States and Israel as

oppressors.

President Hassan Rouhani, addressing flag-waving crowds on central Tehran’s Azadi (Freedom) Square, made no specific reference to Israel’s air strikes in

Syria on Saturday which it said were aimed at air defence and Iranian targets. Iran backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war, supports Shia militias

in Iraq, Houthi rebels in Yemen and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

US President Donald Trump, who sees Iran as a rising threat to regional stability, has pledged to work with Israel and Iran’s key regional rival Saudi Arabia to

curb what they say are Tehran’s attempts to extend its influence in the region. Israel has warned about the increased Iranian involvement along its borders with

Syria and Lebanon.

In a show of defiance of Western pressure to curb its ballistic missile programme, Iran put its Ghadr ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 km on display in

Tehran’s central Vali-ye Asr street.