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Protests Staged Across Iran Against US Strikes in Afghanistan
Tens of thousands of Iranians in various cities took to the streets on Friday to protest against the on-going U.S.-led military strikes in neighboring Afghanistan.
In the capital Tehran, several thousand people marched from the Tehran University to the central Palestine square with the participation of Iran's Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ahmad Masjed Jamei and Minister of Commerce Mohammad Shariatmadari.
In a statement, the protestors accused the White House of " fanning the flames of a crisis."
"The U.S., which supports Israeli state terrorism, is not suitable to lead such a global campaign against terrorism and has no logical right to lead the world into crisis with its power- thriving policies," the statement said.
The nation-wide protests were called on Wednesday by Iran's Islamic Propaganda Organization, the body in charge of organizing demonstrations and rallies in the country.
Other major cities witnessing mass protests included Isfahan, Tabriz, Shiraz, Bushehr, Hamedan, Bandar Abbas, as well as southeastern Zahedan and northeastern Mashhad, both close to the border with Afghanistan.
A rally of about 3,000 people in Zahedan, capital of southeastern Sistan Baluchistan province, turned violent after the demonstrators threw stones to the Pakistani consulate there.
Pakistan formerly supported Afghanistan's ruling Taliban regime, but now backs the U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan.
Washington, charging the Afghan Taliban regime with harboring Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect of the September 11 terror attacks on the U.S., started retaliatory attacks in Afghanistan last Sunday.
Iran condemned the September 11 terror attacks, but has refused to join or assist the U.S.-led military actions against Afghanistan.
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