Crowds across Iran gathered on Friday to condemn what they describe as the U.S. and Israeli military aggression in the Middle East, with President Masoud Pezeshkian and other top officials joining a major rally in the capital Tehran to show national solidarity.
On Friday morning, despite Israel's announcement that it would launch airstrikes on several areas including downtown Tehran, large crowds still gathered on Revolution Street in central Tehran. The people waved Iranian national flags, chanted anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli slogans, and condemned the military attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel.
Demonstrators said that the U.S. and Israel plan to force Iran into "surrender" through military strikes and the assassination of Iranian leaders. However, the Iranian people will unite with the military and the government to resist the aggression and fight to the end.
"We will never rest until we drive the U.S. out of Iran and the Middle East. We must destroy Israel and expel the U.S.. Only then can the people breathe a sigh of relief," said Parviz, a protester.
"Negotiations and such are a joke. Iran has already held two rounds of negotiations, but both times Iran was attacked in the middle of the talks. We should put talk of negotiations out of our minds and obey all instructions from the supreme leader," said Jalal, another protester.
"We must both retaliate severely and drive the U.S. military out of the region. This means the U.S. forces in the area must be eliminated," said Masoud, still another protester.
Also attending the rally in Tehran on Friday were several Iranian leaders and senior officials, including Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani and Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, besides President Pezeshkian.
Larijani said that Israel's attack on Iran was "out of fear and desperation." He also said that U.S. President Donald Trump does not realize that the more pressure is put on the Iranian people, the stronger their resolve becomes.
Araghchi said that despite the "brutal" attacks by the U.S. and Israel, millions of people across Iran still participated in the rallies, demonstrating the Iranian people's unwavering support for their country.
Iranians rally against U.S.-Israel military actions
U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that a deal to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran is mostly complete as talks over a lasting peace deal will "probably" be held this weekend in Pakistan.
Trump said in a phone interview with Bloomberg that Iran agreed to suspend its nuclear program indefinitely, and will not receive any frozen funds from the United States.
"Most of the main points are finalized. It'll go pretty quickly," Trump said.
Asked if he would travel to Pakistan to sign the potential deal, Trump said: "I may." He added that he hasn't decided who would lead a U.S. delegation for talks with Iranian officials to sign an agreement.
Trump again denied that the moratorium on Iran's nuclear program would expire after 20 years. "No years, unlimited," Trump said.
The United States will get all of Iran's nuclear "dust" with no money having exchanged hands "in any way, shape, or form," Trump wrote on social media earlier on Friday. Multiple Western media outlets have interpreted Trump's reference to nuclear "dust" as meaning Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium.
"The Strait of Hormuz is completely open and ready for business and full passage, but the naval blockade will remain in full force and effect as it pertains to Iran, only, until such time as our transaction with Iran is 100 percent complete," Trump wrote in another post.
Iran has yet to comment on any deal beyond the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, nor on claims made by Trump that Tehran had offered concessions, including over the key issue of its nuclear program.
If the United States continues its naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran will consider it a violation of the ceasefire between the two countries and will close the waterway, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Friday, citing an informed source close to the Supreme National Security Council.
American news outlet Axios, citing two U.S. officials and two sources familiar with the negotiations, reported on Friday that the United States and Iran are communicating over a plan aimed at ending the war, and that one key topic under discussion involves the U.S. unfreezing 20 billion U.S. dollars in frozen Iranian assets in exchange for Iran giving up its stockpile of enriched uranium.
The Iranian side has yet to respond to Axios' report on the enriched uranium issue.
Trump claims peace deal with Iran mostly complete: report
