Iran honors Mandela Day, urges elimination of Israeli apartheid in Palestine

Nelson Mandela International Day, also known as Mandela Day, is observed every year on July 18 to mark the birth anniversary of the former South African president.

Honoring Mandela Day, Iran on Tuesday urged the elimination of apartheid across the world, especially Israel’s apartheid system in Palestine.

Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan'ani marked the day in a tweet that commemorated the South African icon as "the great hero of the fight against the apartheid" as well as "a friend of [Iran's] Revolution and the Islamic Republic."

"The world today is in need of Nelson Mandela's liberating thinking in [its efforts to] fight and eliminate apartheid across the world, especially in #Palestine," the tweet added.

The term “apartheid” was originally used to refer to a political system in South Africa which explicitly enforced racial segregation, and the domination and oppression of whites over blacks.

South Africa was in the thrall of apartheid for 46 years, between 1948 and 1994, under an all-white government that Mandela fiercely resisted.

On April 27, 1994, the country’s apartheid era ended and South Africans were finally allowed to cast their votes in the first free and democratic elections after years of heroic struggle led by the icon.

In 2014 the United Nations General Assembly introduced the Nelson Mandela prize to recognise the achievements of those who dedicated their lives to the service of humanity, much like he had in his lifetime.

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