Iranians Mark Anniversary of End of Islamic Revolution

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities on Tuesday to commemorate 41 years since February 11, 1979, the date generally viewed as the official end of the 13-month-long Islamic revolution against the last shah of Iran and secular rule. People chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” the anniversary coming at a time of high tensions, particularly between Tehran and Washington. The US used a drone to kill Qasem Soleimani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force, on January 3, and Iran retaliated on January 8 by using missiles to attack American troops based in Iraq. The raised state of military alert at the time led to Iran’s downing of a Ukrainian airliner, killing all 176 onboard. Tehran has also been moving away from the limitations imposed on it by a 2015 multilateral accord aimed at preventing the country from developing nuclear weapons, and harsh US sanctions reinstated after Washington withdrew from the accord continue to damage Iran’s economy. In addition, many Western nations are at odds with the Islamic Republic over its harassment, and even attacks, against commercial oil tankers transiting the strategic Hormuz Strait.