Iran marks 1979 revolution anniversary amid virus

Struggling with the region's worst outbreak of the coronavirus, Iran is marking the anniversary of the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution on Wednesday on wheels — cars, motorcycles, bicycles — instead of traditional rallies and marches.

Tens of thousands are expected to drive through cities and towns as part of the manifestations after the government decided to replace traditional rallies and demonstrations with motorcades.

The death toll from COVID-19 in Iran is nearing 59,000. Since the pandemic erupted last year, Iran has reported some 1.48 million confirmed cases of the virus.The country on Tuesday launched its coronavirus inoculation campaign, administering recently delivered Russian Sputnik V vaccines to healthcare professionals.

In the capital, Tehran, processions of cars and other vehicles started out from 12 different points on Wednesday morning, driving through the streets to circle Tehran's iconic Azadi Square, the traditional place of gatherings for anniversaries.The previous night, on the eve of the 42nd anniversary, fireworks were set off next to the Milad telecommunications tower in Tehran.

The anniversary this year comes amid hopes that Iran will find relief from harsh economic sanctions imposed by former President Donald Trump who in 2018 pulled America out of the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.Iran's Islamic Revolution began with widespread unrest over the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

The shah, terminally and secretly ill with cancer, fled Iran in January 1979.Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini then returned from exile and the government fell on Feb. 11, 1979, after days of mass demonstrations and confrontations between protesters and security forces.

In April 1979, Iranians voted to become an Islamic Republic, a Shiite theocracy with Khomeini as the country's first supreme leader with final say over all matters of state.Anger over America for allowing the shah into the United States to receive cancer treatment in New York would later spark the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in November 1979  by student militants and the subsequent hostage crisis, which kindled decades of enmity.