Iran's nationwide demonstrations oppose U.S., Israel interference

Nationwide demonstrations took place in Iran on Monday to condemn what they called "riots supported by foreign forces" and oppose a series of interference actions by the United States and Israel.

Tens of thousands of pro-government Iranians gathered in the center of Tehran, waving national flags and chanting slogans against the United States and Israel. They said that the U.S. and Israel used terrorists to create unrests in Iran with the aim of weakening and splitting Iran while seeking their own interests.

"You (the U.S.) claimed that you stand with the people, but in Gaza Strip, you've really showed how you 'stand with the people', as you did in other countries. The people's blood is still on your hands. Your words are like jokes," said one Iranian resident.

"All the U.S. so-called 'negotiations' are frauds. They just want to make Iran unsafe and divided -- just like what they did in Syria and Iraq -- and seek their own interests," said another Iranian resident.

Iranians joining the demonstrations said that they will unite as one in resisting conspiracies and any form of aggression moves by the United States and Israel.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei described the gatherings as a stern warning to U.S. politicians to "halt their deceitful actions and stop relying on their traitorous hirelings".

Iran's nationwide demonstrations oppose U.S., Israel interference

China's Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country's northwest on Sunday, sending three astronauts to its orbiting space station.

The spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, lifted off from the launch site at 23:08 Beijing Time (15:08 GMT).

The crew members consist of mission commander Zhu Yangzhu, and fellow astronauts Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, who is also the first astronaut from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

In another notable first, one of the crew members is set to undertake a year-long stay aboard the space station, double the usual duration of previous Shenzhou missions.

After entering orbit, the Shenzhou-23 spaceship will perform a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the radial port of the space station core module Tianhe, forming a combination of three modules and three spacecraft.

Shenzhou-23 marks the 40th flight of China's manned spaceflight program and the seventh manned flight mission since the Tiangong space station entered its application and development phase in late 2022.

China launches Shenzhou-23 manned spaceship