TEHRAN: Senior Iranian officials including the president on Friday openly attended a mass rally in Tehran despite Israeli-US attacks, with national security chief Ali Larijani dismissing the latest strikes on the capital as being "out of desperation".
State TV showed President Masoud Pezeshkian greeting supporters and even having selfies taken on the rain-spattered streets of Tehran at the annual Quds Day rally in support of the Palestinian cause.
Other key officials attending in an open show of defiance included judiciary chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, national police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to state TV images.
"These attacks are out of fear, out of desperation. One who is strong wouldn't bomb demonstrations at all. It's clear that it has failed", Larijani said.
Striking a defiant tone, he said US President Donald Trump "doesn't understand that the Iranian people are a brave nation, a strong nation, a determined nation. The more he presses, the stronger the nation's determination will become".
Their presence was the most high-profile public showing by Iranian officials since the February 28 strike that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials.
Huge explosions rocked central Tehran on Friday in an area not far from where the demonstration was being held, state television said. At least one person, a woman, was killed, state media said.
One blast was heard as Ejei was speaking to state TV. "Our people are not afraid of the bombing, we will continue along this route", he said.
Araghchi for his part blamed the actions of Israel and the US for the hike in global energy prices, saying "they created this disaster for the region and must be held accountable".
Holding images of Ali Khamenei and his son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei, people marched through Tehran in the annual show of support for the Palestinian cause and show of opposition to Israel, trampling on images of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to AFP journalists.
Mojtaba Khamenei, who according to state media and some officials sustained injuries in the attacks at the start of the war, on Thursday issued his first declaration since being named but has yet to appear in public. — AFP
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