TEHRAN – A wave of grief and anger swept through Iran, as citizens in Tehran and other major cities rallied to honor Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and denounce the Israeli airstrike that claimed his life.

The heart of the demonstrations lay in Tehran's Palestine Square, where on Saturday, a sea of mourners from all walks of life gathered. They held aloft images of the revered Hezbollah leader and chanted slogans asking for “revenge”.

“This is not the first time the regime has committed such crimes and I think they will attempt more such acts in the future. But none of this will stop the current that will drown Israel. Zionists are on the fall no matter how many of us they martyr,” said a 21-year-old university student who had attended the rally with several of his male and female classmates. 

Protesters talking to reporters all condemned the Friday Israeli airstrike, a brutal assault that targeted a cluster of residential buildings in Dahiya, a densely populated area south of Beirut, as an act of unprovoked aggression. “They used 2,000-pound bunker-buster bombs to martyr our Seyyed. My heart hurts and at the same time, I know his blood will give birth to hundreds more Nasrallahs,” A woman said while holding onto her toddler’s hand. 

The news of Nasrallah's martyrdom resonated in other parts of Iran as well. In the holy city of Mashhad, a somber silence descended as a mourning flag was raised over the dome of Imam Reza's shrine, a powerful symbol of grief and defiance. 

Within the sacred walls of the shrine, people gathered in the Imam Khomeini portico, their voices joining in a chorus of condemnation against the Israeli regime and its actions. The Israeli airstrike, they declared, was not just an act of violence, but a blatant violation of international law and a barbaric attack on innocent civilians.