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{{Hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the streets of the Iranian capital and cities around the country to mark the 35th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.}}

In Tehran, huge crowds thronged central Azadi square on Tuesday for a speech by President Hassan Rouhani, his first major address to the public since his election in August.

Rouhani launched into the traditional anti-US rhetoric despite a significant political shift in Tehran, which resulted in his election last year as a leader pursuing a policy of outreach to the West.

“The people’s vote had no role in running this country. This was a huge humiliation,” Rouhani said, referring to the period when Iran was a constitutional monarchy.

“People wanted their views to be an influence [but] the big powers were interfering in the internal affairs of this country … The Americans thought the country of Iran belongs to them. They interfered everywhere even on security issues.”

The revolution was set in motion in 1979 after a siege began some 10 months following the fall of the US-allied shah.

Radical students stormed the US embassy, taking 52 people hostage. They were released after 444 days, and the seige ended Washington’s diplomatic relations with Tehran.

More recently, Iran reached an interim agreement with Western powers to curb its nuclear programme, which the West suspects is meant to develop a nuclear bomb.

But while Tuesday’s mood in Tehran is one of celebration, reporters say that Iranians still feel there is a lot that needs to be done to strengthen relations between the US and Iran.

“Yes, they want better relations with the United States, they’re happy with the government and the diplomatic push from the government, but there’s still so much anger in the people towards the history of Iran and the United States,” Lennie said.

The slogan’s of Tuesday’s celebration express Iran’s current feelings towards the US and include “we’ll stand to the end”, “we will stand up against and we are ready for all options on the table”, and “we are ready for the great battle”.

The first slogan is “obviously a reference to the United States and external pressures on Iran”, Lennie said.

The second one is “of course a reference to President Obama, John Kerry and all options on the table including military ones”, she said.

Lennie added that the third, like the first slogan, is also about external pressures on Iran.

{{Missile test }}

Activities to mark the anniversary come a day after Iran “successfully tested” two missiles, according to the official IRNA news agency.

aljazeera

US President Barack Obama and French President François Hollande toured Thomas Jefferson’s plantation estate on Monday in a show of solidarity for Franco-American ties that have endured for more than two centuries, despite the occasional tempest.

The visit to Monticello, home to America’s third president, served to showcase a relationship that stretches back to the founding of the United States in the late 18th century, an alliance still strong despite spats over US eavesdropping and trade talks with the European Union.

“The NSA scandal has left a very bitter residue in this relationship but there is also a sense of letting bygones be bygones,” media reports.

“They are looking to what unites them – they’re finding common ground in a strong and steadfast relationship that goes back 200 years. It’s not for nothing that Obama took Hollande to Monticello – the home Jefferson, who was an avid Francophile and one of the earliest US envoys to France,” he said.

“Thomas Jefferson represents what’s best in America, but as we see as we travel through his home, what he also represents is the incredible bond and the incredible gifts that France gave to the United States, because he was a Francophile through and through,” Obama told reporters.

Obama said the house also represents the complicated history of the United States since “slaves helped to build this magnificent structure”.

“It’s a reminder for both of us that we are in a continuous fight on behalf of the rights of all peoples,” Obama said.

Hollande noted the significant role played by a French general, the Marquis de Lafayette, in helping George Washington defeat the British colonial power.

“We were allies in the time of Jefferson and Lafayette. We are still allies today. We were friends at the time of Jefferson and Lafayette and will remain friends forever,” he said.

france24

{{British citizens have posted video footage and photographs that suggest they have been involved in the torture and murder of prisoners during the civil war in Syria, it was reported.}}

A man, who is believed to be with a jihadist rebel group, claimed to have beaten a fighter from the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which is backed by the West, according to The Times. The injured man was shown tied to a car tyre and being hit with an iron bar in footage posted on the internet.

“This FSA scum never thought we wud jump out at them and pick them up after saying some abusive words to our brothers,” the British man wrote. “Two then got ahead of themselves and swore at Allah, at this point there was no stopping us LOL [laugh out loud] although we where told to jus leave them.”

Three blindfolded prisoners were pictured in a post on Twitter. “Got these criminals today. Insha’Allah [God willing] they will be killed tomorrow. can’t wait for that feeling when you just killed someone,” the accompanying text said.

The same poster later tweeted a picture showing a hand dripping with blood with the words, “My first time!”

Shiraz Maher, a senior fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College London, said the man who posted the video footage was from London and had been to university.

“He is a known British jihadi and we have been monitoring him and his account and his grouping,” he said.

Mr Maher said he had contacted the man over the internet. The man denied killing prisoners and said the blood on his hands was from a sheep that had been slaughtered.

{independent}