'Fight against global arrogance': Iranians rally in solidarity with Palestinians

Thousands of protesters have rallied across Iran against the United States and Israel and in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

"Down with USA" and "Down with Israel", chanted demonstrators gathered in front of the former US embassy in Tehran on Saturday, journalists at the scene reported.

They set ablaze an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu as well as the US and Israel flags in front of flag-waving crowds.

Tensions between Iran and the United States have worsened since the October 7 attacks on close US ally Israel by Palestinian group Hamas.

Since then, Israel has relentlessly bombarded Gaza and sent in ground troops, with the Health Ministry in Gaza saying 9,488 people have been killed, about two-thirds of them women and children.

Speaking on Saturday, Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf hailed Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel as "a turning point" that "changed history".

"No matter what the United States and the Zionist regime (Israel) do, the situation after the 'Al-Aqsa Flood' operation will not return" to how it was, Ghalibaf added.

'Global arrogance'

The demonstrations come on Iran's "day of the fight against global arrogance".

November 4 marks the day Iranians attacked the US embassy in Tehran in 1979 and the taking of 52 American diplomats as hostages, which lasted 444 days.

Less than nine months after the toppling of Iran's US-backed shah, students overran the embassy to demand Washington hand over the ousted ruler after he was admitted to an American hospital.

Tehran has labelled the Israeli bombardment of Gaza as a "genocide", while lambasting Washington for its strong support of Israel.