Blast rocks Tehran after Israel threatened to target area of govt-organised rally

AP

Dubai

A large explosion rocked an area of Iran’s capital where thousands were gathered Friday for an annual state-organised rally to support the Palestinians and call for Israel’s demise.

Israel had earlier warned that it would target the area in central Tehran.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

But the decision to proceed with the mass demonstration that was
attended by some senior government officials, and Israel’s threat to target the area, underscored the fierce determination on both sides nearly two weeks into a war that has rattled the global economy and shows no sign of letting up.

Iran has continued to launch widespread daily missile and drone attacks on Israel and neighbouring Gulf states, and has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes, even as US and Israeli warplanes pummel military and other targets across Iran.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Thursday vowed to continue the attacks and keep the strait closed in his first public statement since succeeding his father, who was killed in the opening day of the war.

Khamenei has not been seen in public since taking over leadership, and the written statement was read by a state TV anchor.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Khamenei “is wounded and likely disfigured,” without providing evidence about the supreme leader’s condition or elaborating on how the US knows.

Israel suspects Khamenei was wounded at the start of the war.

With growing global concerns about a possible energy crisis and no end to the war in sight, the price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, remained over USD 100 per barrel.

The explosion rocked the Ferdowsi Square area midday, where thousands had gathered for an annual Quds Day rally to support the Palestinians and call for Israel’s demise in which they chanted “death to Israel” and “death to America.”

Israel had issued a warning on a Farsi-language X account for people to clear the area shortly before the blast.

But few Iranians would have seen it, as authorities have almost completely shut down the internet since the start of the war. Footage from the scene showed people chanting “God is greatest,” as smoke rose in the area.

The Israeli military later posted a second message in Farsi, noting the head of Iran’s judiciary was at the rally and criticising Iran for cutting off the internet, blocking many from seeing their warning.

The hard-liner who leads Iran’s judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, had been giving an interview to a state television reporter at the demonstration when the strike happened.

His bodyguards encircled him, as he raised his fist and said Iran “under this rain and missiles will never withdraw.”

Senior security official Ali Larijani, who was also at the Quds Day demonstrations, told Iranian media covering the event that the suspected Israeli attack was a “sign of its desperation.”