Update: Rouhani hails Friday rallies as "reaction" to U.S. threats

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said that the nationwide rallies to celebrate the 38th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic revolution on Friday are a reaction to the recent threats of the U.S. officials against Iran.

The Friday rallies are an embodiment of "national power" and show that "the Iranian people will make regretful those who use the language of threat against the Iranians," Rumania said in an address to the large gathering in the capital Tehran's Azadi (liberty) square.

"This mass turnout is a response to the incorrect claims of the new U.S. officials," he said, adding that "people have swarmed to the streets on Friday to show to the world that (Iran's) revolution is alive and its leadership is not alone."

The United States recently announced sanctions on multiple entities and individuals involved in Iran's missile development after Tehran carried out latest medium-range ballistic missile test late last month. The Iranian authorities unanimously defended the missile tests for defensive purposes.

The Iranian president also dismissed what he called the U.S. "treason" against Iran by confiscating Iran's money in the U.S. banks, and said that the Islamic republic has filed a complaint in the international court against the United States in this regard.

Earlier, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and president Rouhani called for mass turnout in the rallies to condemn the U.S. recent threats against the Islamic republic.

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians attended nationwide rallies on Friday to celebrate the 38th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic revolution in 1979.

People in the Iranian cities flocked to the streets carrying images of the late founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Seyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini, and his successor, incumbent Khamenei.

In the capital Tehran, people carried flags and banners in support of the Islamic establishment and chanted anti-U.S., anti-Israeli slogans, and pro-Palestine slogans.

The 1979 revolution in Iran toppled the U.S.-backed regime of Shah and brought the country under the leadership of Khomeini, an event seen as a turning point in Iran's history. Endit