Chinese President Xi Jinping and international guests ascended the Tian'anmen Rostrum in Beijing on Wednesday morning to attend a grand gathering to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will deliver a speech at the gathering and review the troops of 45 formations and echelons at a grand military parade.
Walking beside President Xi were Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, along with more than 20 other foreign leaders.
Representatives of people who had supported China's WWII fight, or their family members from countries such as Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Canada were also invited to the commemoration event.
Xi, foreign guests ascend Tian'anmen Rostrum to attend V-Day gathering
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Monday that the situation in Iran is "under total control" following violence linked to protests that spiked over the weekend.
Addressing foreign diplomats in Tehran, the foreign minister noted that armed terrorist groups had infiltrated the protests, attempting to divert them from their legitimate course. He claimed that evidence has been gathered showing Iranian security forces being shot at, with the aim of causing further casualties. He accused the United States and Israel of exploiting the unrest to interfere in Iran's internal affairs.
Araghchi further stated that the government is closely monitoring developments on the streets, emphasizing that "the situation has come under control." He also affirmed that internet services, curtailed during the unrest, would be restored after coordination with security agencies.
The government has engaged in dialogue with merchants and protest representatives and initiated reforms to address grievances related to price hikes and currency depreciation. Iran has taken a series of actions and measures to respond to the demands of peaceful demonstrators, the foreign minister said.
Earlier on Sunday, Araghchi said that clear evidence links recent riots and vandalism of public facilities in Iran to the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. This came after former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned Mossad agents operating on Iran's streets in a social media post. The Iranian foreign minister asserted that police are being attacked by "terrorists" acting under the direction of Israeli operatives, whom Pompeo publicly acknowledged.
The protests initially erupted over a sharp depreciation of the rial and sweeping subsidy reforms. Iranian authorities have blamed the unrest on foreign-linked agents and U.S. sanctions.
Iranian foreign minister says situation "fully under control," accuses Israeli intelligence of stoking unrest
