No. 8

March 22, 2026

Millions Around the World Stand with Iran,
Palestine and Lebanon

Photo Review

Iran's response to the U.S./Israeli aggression on February 28 was immediate as was the response of the Iranian people and peoples around the world condemning it. In Iran itself, despite U.S./Israeli bombardments targeting the people and civilian infrastructure the people have stood steadfast, in the streets en masse day after day, refusing to be intimidated, denouncing U.S./Israeli aggression and affirming their right to determine their own destiny.

Around the world people have expressed their opposition to the criminal action of the U.S. and Israel, on the streets in their hundreds of thousands and millions. They are standing as one with the people of Iran, condemning the aggression and each attack more heinous than the last, as well as in Europe, the U.S. and Canada, condemning the big powers which are justifying these attacks in ways that condemn them too for conciliating with the U.S. and Israel. The right of the Iranian people to defend themselves is indisputable, as is also the case for the Palestinian and Lebanese people and all those subject to the desperate acts of U.S. aggression and sanctions which are acts of war.

In this issue, TML provides a photo review of actions in Iran and around the world and, especially, of the massive expression of international support on Al-Quds Day marked on March 13-15. For coverage of the initial response in Canada and the U.S after the U.S. launched its aggression on February 28 click here.

CANADA
Montreal

On Saturday March 7, a militant rally was held in downtown Montreal denouncing the U.S./Israeli attacks against the peoples of Iran and Lebanon and the ongoing genocide against Gaza. Banners, placards and chants declared: No to U.S./Israeli War against Iran and Lebanon!, U.S., Israel, Hands Off Iran!, Hands Off Palestine, Lebanon, Iran!, U.S., Hands Off the Middle East and No to Canada"s Support to the War Against Iran!, For an Anti-War Government! and One Humanity, One Struggle!

A speaker at the rally detailed additional civilian targets that were struck, including medical facilities such as the Red Crescent and Gandhi Hospital in Tehran, which became non-operational, as well as Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport. In the southern town of Lamerd, she said, 20 teenage female volleyball players were killed when bombs hit their sports complex. She then went on to denounce the hypocrisy of the Carney government with its double standards:

"Carney states international law binds all belligerents, but only condemns the strikes carried out by Iran, not the strikes on children by the states that wanted this war in the first place, the U.S. and Israel. The next day, March 4, Carney declared that Canada can never categorically rule out participation in this war. Actually, Mr. Carney, yes, we can. Canada should not participate in the illegal and unjustifiable military action nor provide aid to the belligerent U.S. government or the genocidal settler colonial state of Israel."

After the speeches, the crowd took to the streets, marching for close to two hours along the busy Ste. Catherine street filled with pedestrians, chanting slogans denouncing the U.S./Israeli aggression against Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, and the U.S. attacks and criminal blockades against Venezuela and Cuba. They vigorously expressed their solidarity with the people of those countries resisting the U.S. imperialist dictate: Tehran, Tehran, Montreal Is with You!, Beirut, Beirut, Montreal is With You!, Gaza, Gaza, Montreal Is with You!" and more.

The demonstration ended in front of the Israeli consulate where a spokesperson for the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) emphasized that as long as people continue to resist and protest in the streets against what she called "the Epstein ruling class," the peoples of the world will prevail.

The speaker highlighted the irony that the United States, regarded as the richest and most powerful country in the world, has citizens living in the streets who cannot afford to pay their rent. She condemned the more than two and a half years of the ongoing genocide campaign against Gaza, noting that Israel has acted with complete impunity during that time, with the full complicity of the Genocide Seven.

Before the march concluded, plans were made to gather once again on Al-Quds Day.

March 7

Ottawa

March 7

Toronto

Thousands of people from all walks of life participated in a powerful rally on March 7 at the U.S. Consulate to demand an immediate end to the U.S./Israeli war against Iran.

Speakers denounced the barbaric and cowardly assassination of Iran's leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the ongoing indiscriminate bombing of civilians in schools, hospitals, and in their homes by the Trump administration and the Israeli Zionists. They pointed out that since the U.S./Israeli onslaught began, more than 1,330 people, including hundreds of children, have been killed. This, they said, is the stock in trade of the U.S./Israeli war criminals witnessed by the whole world during the genocidal war against the Palestinian people since October 2023, and before, crimes which will not go unpunished.

The cowardly and unprincipled stand of the Carney Liberal government, which claims to defend the UN Charter while wholeheartedly supporting the U.S./Israeli war against Iran was denounced. This stand is not only a violation of Canada's duty to uphold international law but a denial of the striving of the Canadian people for a world in which sovereignty is respected and force is not used to settle conflicts between nations, speakers pointed out.

A state-organized provocation took place at the rally when degenerate supporters of the former Shah of Iran, Zionists and apologists for the U.S. Trump administration held a "counter demonstration" which was only able to proceed with the protection of close to 100 Toronto police who stood in rows to protect them.

At the end of the rally, the participants denounced the provocateurs and pledged to keep up their resistance to the illegal war against Iran and demand the Canadian government represent the opposition of the Canadian people to these crimes against the Iran people.

March 7

Vancouver

March 7

INTERNATIONAL
United States

February 28

More than 50,000 people demonstrated in London, England on March 7, marching from Millbank to the U.S. embassy in Vauxhall, demanding an end to U.S./Israeli strikes on Iran.

Organizers included Hands off Iran, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War, Muslim Association of Britain, Palestinian Forum in Britain and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Just hours before the march U.S. Air Force B-1 Lancer bombers landed at the Royal Air Force Fairford base in Gloucestershire, southern England. U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the U.S. would use British bases to "dramatically" increase its strikes on Iran.

Meanwhile, the UK continued to increase its military presence in the region following a drone crash at its sovereign base in Akrotiri in the Republic of Cyprus. The government previously decided to deploy the HMS Dragon air defence destroyer to Southern Cyprus. According to reports, it will also send a warship named RFA Lyme Bay to the region. Besides warships, the UK is also supplying Wildcat helicopters with anti-drone capabilities to the Eastern Mediterranean. Before the attack by Israel and the U.S. on Iran, England had deployed six F-35 fighter jets in addition to the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft at the bases in Southern Cyprus.

March 7

International Al-Quds Day

Al-Quds Day was proclaimed in 1979 by Ayatollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to be marked on the last Friday of Ramadan to demonstrate support and solidarity with the Palestinian people "until Palestine is free from the River to the Sea." He called on the Muslims of the world to stand against "the arrogant, oppressive powers," specifically targeting the "usurper Israel," and to oppose the Zionist occupation of Al-Quds, East Jerusalem, one of the three main holy cities of Islam. This year's events were particularly significant given the assassination of Ayatollah Khomeini's successor, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei when the U.S. and Israel launched their brutal attack on Iran on February 28. Millions of people across the world militantly took to the streets in support of the heroic Palestinian people as well as the U.S./Israeli attacks on Iran and Lebanon.

In Canada there were Al-Quds Day rallies and marches in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver and other actions in solidarity with Palestine.

In Tehran and across Iran, millions marched in defiance of the illegal bombing of their country by the U.S. and Israel. Media reports inform that the U.S./Israeli forces launched missile attacks on the protesters in Tehran. Other mass actions involving millions took place across the Middle East – in Palestine, Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain and other countries.

In London, England, tens of thousands rallied following a ban on the traditional Al-Quds Day march by the Starmer government. Mass actions took place in cities in Ireland and Scotland, as well as throughout Europe – in Belgium, France, Sweden, Germany, Greece, Spain and more.

Across the U.S. there were rallies and marches, in cities across the country – New York, New York; Seattle, Washington; Dallas and Houston, Texas; Washington, DC; Chicago, Illinois; Paterson, New Jersey; Portland, Oregon; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Detroit, Michigan and more. There were also actions in cities across Latin America and the Caribbean including Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and Cuba.

Al-Quds Day actions also took place in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and in other African countries. There were several Al-Quds Day demonstrations in India including in Hyderabad and Delhi. Actions also took place across Asia including in Pakistan, Kashmir, Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines and in Australia and New Zealand.

The actions across the globe highlighted that the world is one humanity engaged in one struggle with Iran, Palestine and Lebanon, determined to make sure that the U.S./Zionist warmongers and war criminals and their appeasers such as Canada cannot prevail.

CANADA
Montreal

On March 14, people gathered in front of the Israeli consulate in Montreal to support the peoples of the Middle East resisting the unprovoked and criminal U.S./Israeli attacks on Iran and Lebanon.

Organizers recounted recent actions of the Israeli occupation forces including closing the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem to worshippers during the entire month of Ramadan, the bombing of Beirut and its suburbs which has resulted in 800,000 people being displaced from south Lebanon and the U.S./Israeli bombing of Iranian cities, killing hundreds of civilians and targeting schools, hospitals and energy infrastructure.

A Palestinian Youth Movement representative said: "Our liberation movement stands against the forces of imperialism, rejects humiliation and subjugation and stands in support of the oppressed people. This movement is the compass for those fighting against colonialism and imperialism."

A representative of the Iranian Canadian Congress (ICC) added that on this Al-Quds Day along with expressing solidarity with the people of Palestine who are fighting for self determination the world is standing with the people of Iran, their right to resist, to defend their country, to answer aggression with self-defence, denouncing the imperialist hypocrisy of Carney's claims that Iran is the principal source of instability and terror in the Middle East. The ICC representative said "We stand with the people of Iran. We stand with the people of Palestine. We stand with the people of Lebanon, Iraq, Libya, Venezuela, Cuba and with all the peoples faced with invasions, with dirty wars."

The action proceeded with a march to the U.S. consulate where organizers called on everyone to come to Dorchester Square at 1:30 pm March 21 for a demonstration to oppose the U.S./Israel war on Iran and Lebanon. That event will then join a demonstration demanding justice for migrants scheduled for 3:00 pm the same day in front of Complexe Guy-Favreau which houses an Immigration Canada office.

Toronto

More than 4,000 people from all walks of life took part in a rally and march on March 15 starting at the U.S. Consulate to mark Al-Quds Day to honour and support the heroic historic resistance of the Palestinian people against the Israeli Zionist occupiers of their historic land. The event was organized by the Al-Quds Committee in Toronto and others.

This year, the organizers honoured the struggle of the Palestinian people along with the heroic resistance and steadfastness of the Lebanese people and the people of Iran in their fight against the U.S./Israeli war and aggression, as well as saluting the fighting people of Cuba, Venezuela and the rest of humanity for boldly affirming their rights against the dictate of the U.S. and their supporters like Canada.

The speakers at the action denounced Premier Doug Ford's last minute failed attempt, with the support of the Zionist forces in Toronto City Council and others, to get a court injunction to prevent the event from taking place. They also denounced the Carney government's opposition to the No More Loopholes Act that was before parliament calling for an end to loopholes that allow the shipment of arms and military equipment from Canada for the U.S./Israeli war against the people of Palestine, Iran and Lebanon.

The march then proceeded with slogans chanted along the way such as From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free! Hands off Iran! Hands off Lebanon! U.S. Imperialists Hands off the Middle East! and others. At the end of the march the organizers thanked everyone and pledged to step up the organizing until Palestine is free, and the illegal U.S./Israeli war against Lebanon and Iran is ended.

Calgary

Vancouver

UNITED STATES

IRAN

Millions of Iranians poured into the streets across the country to mark International Al-Quds Day. People waved Iranian and Palestinian flags and displayed images of Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, the newly elected leader of the Islamic Revolution, and reports indicate that the atmosphere of defiance and solidarity was palpable.

Top officials attended the rallies, with President Masoud Pezeshkian seen walking among the people in the street without any security escort. Speaking at the rally in Tehran, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani stated that U.S. President Donald Trump "does not understand" the resolve of the Iranian people. He too was martyred days later in yet another assassination carried out by the U.S./Israeli war criminals.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (left) and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at Al-Quds day
event in Tehran, March 13, 2026

The Islamic Development Coordination Council issued a statement that "the Middle East, once envisioned by enemies as a space for expansion, has transformed into a 'resistant Middle East.'"

Mass rallies took place in over 900 cities and dozens of towns and villages, a clear statement of defiance against the external forces that seek to weaken Iran and its allies in the region. The central rally in Tehran, which began at multiple points across the capital, converged at the University of Tehran.