Update: Iranians mark Al-Quds Day in solidarity with Palestinians

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians held rallies on Friday marking Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day in solidarity with the Palestinians and condemning Israel's continued occupation of Palestinian lands.

In the capital city of Tehran, the ralliers chanted anti-Israel and anti-U.S. slogans and carried banners underscoring "resistance against the atrocities of Israel" and the return of dislocated Palestinians to their homeland.

Al-Quds Day, an annual event that began in Iran in 1979, is observed on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the Islamic republic as well as in several Muslim countries.

Senior Iranian government officials, including President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, as well as military commanders participated in the rallies in Tehran.

Iran will stay by the side of Palestinians, Rouhani told reporters, adding that "today, the message of Iranians is the Islamic republic will remain on the side of the oppressed people and the Palestinians are not alone."

The Muslim and oppressed people of Palestine are away from their homeland for 70 years, as the occupiers have seized their lands and are not bound to any international law and any humanitarian principles," he said.

The Iranian president slammed what he called terrorism and extremism which have overshadowed the cause of Palestine in the region and in the world.

With no doubt, the Muslims will gain victory thanks to their resistance" against Israel and its regional plots, he added.

In the statement read at the end of the rally, the demonstrators announced the country's all-out support for the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli pressures in the occupied lands. Endit