TEHRAN: Tens of thousands of Iranians drove through Tehran on Friday to mark the 43rd anniversary of the country’s Islamic Revolution, staying in vehicles rather than marching on foot because of Covid restrictions.

Due to the pandemic, state television said that — again this year — there should be “no gathering or marching” by those celebrating the 1979 overthrow of the Shah’s regime.

Instead, people travelled by car, motorcycle and bicycle, to converge on the capital’s iconic Azadi (Freedom) Square, despite chilly temperatures.

Some had draped the red, white and green Iranian flag over their cars.

Others chanted slogans of “Death to America” and “We will resist until the end” from windows as they drove by.

They looped around the roundabout, before some got out of their vehicles to let loose balloons and take selfies in front of Azadi Tower, a massive monument at the city’s western entrance.

A number of US flags were also burned by people chanting “We will not surrender”, said an AFP photographer at the square.

State television broadcast footage of similar rallies in other major cities, including Isfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz and Shiraz.

Demonstrators bore portraits of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well as the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic republic, and revered general Qasem Soleimani, killed by a US air strike at Baghdad airport in January 2020.

This year’s anniversary is the first since ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi took office in August.

The celebrations mark the day that the Shah’s government fell after Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2022