TEHRAN – After a two years hiatus in marking the International Quds Day due to Covid-19 restrictions, millions of Muslims in Iran and other countries are gearing up for condemning Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. 

International Quds Day is marked on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan every year. The occasion was designated at the initiative of Imam Khomeini. This year’s Quds Day rolls around on 29 April. 

Massive preparations are underway across Iran to magnificently stage processions and online events. Mohammad Hossein Mousa Pour, chairman of the Islamic Advocacy Council, said on Wednesday that the Quds Day processions will be held in Tehran and 900 cities and villages around the country. 

“This year, we are going to witness the holding of popular processions across the country after two years,” Mousa Pour, a cleric, said. “The Quds Intifada Commission was formed and it reviewed the strategies, plans, and slogans. Now, there is coordination and convergence for implementing the programs inside and outside the country,” he said. 

According to the chairman, who is in charge of planning and coordinating the Quds Day activities, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) General Hossein Salami will deliver a speech at the University of Tehran, where the demonstrators will gather for the Friday Prayer. Other Iranian officials are expected to deliver speeches on the occasion. 

Also, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian will take part in an online event on Palestine along with Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei on international relations. The event, promoted as the biggest online International Quds Day ceremony, is dubbed “liberating Quds as the capital of Palestine.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Ayatollah Khamenei hailed this year’s Quds Days as being different from previous years. 
Addressing a number of university students on Tuesday afternoon, the Leader said, “This year's Quds Day is different from other years. The Palestinians have been making great sacrifices both during last year's and this year's Ramadan. The Zionist regime is committing the worst crimes, and the US and Europe are supporting them.”

He added, “Palestine is both oppressed and powerful; it’s an oppressed power. I said the same about Iran many years ago. Palestine is truly strong today. The Palestinian youth do not allow the question of Palestine to be forgotten and they're standing up in opposition to the enemy's crimes.”

Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar has said that the resistance of the Palestinians has become a source of concern for Israel given the coincidence of the Quds Day and the Day of Nakba, which falls on May 15.

“Despite the relative calm currently in force in the occupied Palestinian territories, it does not seem that the escalation will be delayed before it rears its head again. Israel is waiting for two occasions that constitute an annual date for Palestinian activities in the face of the occupation, namely Quds Day and the Nakba commemoration,” the newspaper said. 

It described the security situation in Palestine as “fragile to the extent that any operational mistake could push towards a wide confrontation.”