As Iran celebrated its 35th anniversary of the Islamic revolution on Tuesday, February 11, with state rallies and declarations calling for the death of America and Israel as well as test firing new missiles, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a graduation ceremony for IDF Ground Forces training course. There, the PM took note of the Iranian celebrations.
“Today, Iran is marking 35 years since the Islamic Revolution and this ‘celebration’ has been marked by repeated calls for Israel’s destruction,” said Prime Minister Netanyahu. “The desire to cut the Jewish People off from its homeland did not pass from the world with the establishment of the state. What has changed is our ability to oppose those who seek our lives and frustrate their designs,” the Netanyahu stated at the IDF ceremony.
In addition to the hundreds of thousands of Iranians who gathered in Iran to celebrate on Tuesday, the Iranian government hosted a lavish 35th anniversary dinner buffet at the United Nations on Monday night, February 10. Hundreds of diplomats and guests attended including Secretary General Ban Ki-moon attended, according to a report in the New York Times. Flat-screen televisions at the UN dinner buffet depicted video clips of Iranian rocket launches and precision bomb tests.
In celebration of the Islamic Revolution, the Iranian news agency, Fars, which is associated with the Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian government, featured interviews with Iranian senior commanders describing the recent Iranian naval flotilla’s voyage to the Atlantic.
“The world has been taken aback by the entrance of the Iranian fleet of warships in the (Atlantic) Ocean and this is one of the blessings of the Islamic Revolution,” boasted the Commander of the Cyber Headquarters of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff Brigadier Behrouz Esbati in a Fars News Agency report on Monday. Iran aims to counter the US presence in its waters in the Persian Gulf by sailing to US coasts.
The NY Times report also described the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Crops band playing songs from the 1979 revolution. One Islamic cleric, Mohammad Moshabarati, 28, stated that “Everything you see here is the achievement of our Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Our slogan is, ‘Death to U.S., and it will be so forever, no matter what President Rouhani agrees with the Americans.”
Iranian protesters were also heard shouting “Death to Obama!” and “Death to Kerry!” Rally posters read “We are ready for the great battle.”
The US and other world powers are preparing to meet with Iranian officials on February 18 to seek a comprehensive agreement about Iran’s nuclear program in Vienna.
