Iran stages revolution anniversary rallies amid simmering discontent


As the Islamic Republic marked the 47th anniversary of its 1979 revolution on Wednesday, Iranian authorities staged nationwide rallies while the country’s leadership faced mounting pressure at home and abroad.
State media broadcast images of large crowds gathering in Tehran and other cities to commemorate the anniversary, an annual event organized by the government.
In the capital, participants assembled at Azadi Square, waving Iranian flags and portraits of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the late Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.
President Masoud Pezeshkian addressed the gathering in Tehran, saying Iranians had risen up in 1979 to seek justice and independence.
He said the anniversary demonstrated that people had turned out “in their millions” to defend the revolution, follow the country’s leadership and uphold national values.
Pezeshkian accused the United States and European countries of seeking to undermine the Islamic Republic since its founding, referring to the 1980–88 Iran-Iraq war and longstanding Western sanctions.
The commemorations came as Iran’s clerical establishment confronts renewed external pressure and lingering domestic unrest.
US President Donald Trump said this week he was considering sending another aircraft carrier group to the Middle East, as indirect nuclear talks resume and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presses Washington to take a harder line on Tehran.
While state television highlighted the scale of the anniversary rallies, witnesses in Tehran reported hearing anti-government chants from residential neighborhoods on Tuesday night during government-organized festivities, a sign of tensions that have simmered since a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in January.
Iran’s leadership has long used the anniversary to project unity and resilience. Analysts say participation includes committed supporters of the system, members of state institutions and others attending what has become a public holiday marked by organized events.
The anniversary events unfolded against a backdrop of economic strain, Western sanctions and uncertainty over the future of nuclear negotiations against the backdrop of US military buildup in the region.