ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI: Religious-political parties held protest demonstrations against US-Israeli aggression against Iran after the Friday prayers amid strict security measures by the government.

The nationwide protests have been announced by Jamaat-i-Islami and other mainly Shia political parties.

The rally in the federal capital was organised by a new body, Ittehad-i-Ummat Forum, which includes the Shia Ulema Council, Majlis Wahdat Muslimeen and Tehreek-i-Bedari.

The protest commenced after Friday prayers from an imambargah in G-6/2 against the scheduled plan to proceed towards D-chowk. Their gathering culminated midway near the Poly Clinic Hospital.

Clerics slam act of aggression on Iran; demand Pakistan’s withdrawal from Trump’s BOP

The road towards D-Chowk was sealed with the help of containers at two different spots, and the organisers of the protest remained peaceful, contrary to the earlier protest when they clashed with the police and rangers at the entrance of Diplomatic Enclave.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad administration has tightened security arrangements across the capital, sealing three out of four entrances to the Red Zone.

Addressing the protest gathering at Poly clinic, Vice Chairman of Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen Allama Ahmed Iqbal Rizvi criticised the United States and Israel for almost all the troubles and disturbances the world was facing.

He added that Washington had been responsible for Pakistan’s political and economic difficulties. He demanded that Pakistan should immediately withdraw from what he called the infamous so-called Gaza Board of Peace (BOP), which has been created to facilitate Israel in its nefarious designs to make a Greater Zionist state up to Makkah and Madina.

Allama Rizvi also criticised the authorities over last week’s protests, alleging that security personnel opened direct fire on demonstrators.

He held the federal, Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan governments responsible for the deaths of protesters and demanded that citizens be allowed to hold peaceful demonstrations. Vice President Shia Ulema Council, Allama Arif Wahidi, urged unity against the US and Israel.

He said the US and Israel did not want the Muslim world to unite and accused Muslim rulers of failing to respond effectively to the situation in the region. He said that the next target of these tyrants could be Pakistan.

“We are ready to defend our country,” Allama Wahidi added, ”But this too was unfortunate that despite being a nuclear power, the country’s leadership praised Donald Trump as a ‘great leader’ and recommended honouring him with the Nobel Prize.”

He said that both the US and Israel killed thousands of people in Gaza and continue to occupy Palestinian land in the West Bank. Muhammad Taqi Haider of Tehreek e Bedari Ummat Mustafa lauded the leadership of Iran.

He said martyrdom of Syed Ali Khamenei is like a beacon of light for all the world, who preferred death over compromise on the principles. Separately, Jamaat-i-Islami Islamabad will stage a protest outside Shuhada Mosque, Aabpara Market.

JI stages protest in Rawalpindi

Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) on Friday staged a protest rally on Murree Road against the United States and Israeli aggression on Iran and the martyrdom of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The rally was brought on Murree Road after Friday prayers led by District emir Syed Arif Shirazi and Shia Ulema Council leader Nasir Khan, while it was attended by a large number of people. The participants were carrying placards and chanted slogans against the US and Israel.

Addressing the gathering, the speakers said that Jamaat-i-Islami has stood with every oppressed person, but the rulers sitting in the house opened their eyes and stood for the rights of the innocent Iranian people. They said that the US and Israel’s naked aggression on Iran is condemnable and shameful.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2026