TEHRAN – Millions of Iranians took to the streets across the country on Thursday to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

The revolution day known as Bahman 22nd, which fell on February 11 this year, marks an end to the dictatorial rule by the Western-backed regime of Pahlavi in 1979.
In the capital Tehran hundreds of thousands of people converged on the streets leading to Azadi Square (Freedom Square) where President Ahmadinejad addressed the people.
Some marchers carried pictures of Imam Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Revolution.
The marchers chanted slogans: “God Is Great,” “Death to the U.S.,” “Death to Israel”. Sometimes the marchers also cried slogans against Britain and France.
The demonstrators also issued a statement insisting that velayat-e faqih (the rule of supreme jurisprudent), who represents the system's Islamism and republicanism, is a guarantor of national unity and the health of the ruling system.
Some demonstrators carried papers reading: “Velayat-e faqih prevents dictatorship.”
In a symbolic sign the demonstrators in Azadi Square also carried the coffin of the “Western liberal democracy” on carts in an allusion to a statement by President Ahmadinejad who had said the February 11 rallies would mark the death of liberal democracy.
Security forces were also deployed in and around the streets where rallies were held to maintain order and counter possible protests by opposition groups