Iran names street after American activist Rachel Corrie
Tehran municipal council names street after American activist who was killed by an IDF bulldozer in Gaza in 2003
Tehran's municipal council has decided to name a street after an American activist who was killed by an IDF bulldozer in Gaza Strip in 2003.
The report in Thursday's edition of Hamshahri, a daily affiliated with the municipality, said the council decided to name the street Rachel Aliene Corrie.
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The pro-Palestinian activist from Washington state was trying to prevent what she and other activists believed was a military push to demolish nearby Palestinian homes. Iran does not recognize Israel.
The decision marks the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that an Iranian street has been named after a US national.
The decision marked the first time that an Iranian street has been named after a US national since 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted pro-west Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Before the revolution, at least three main Tehran streets were named after former US presidents; Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt.
Iran and the United States have not had diplomatic ties since militant students overran the US Embassy in Tehran, holding American diplomats hostage for 444 days.
Currently there are a few streets in Tehran named after Western nationals, including Bobby Sands, a member of Irish Republican Army who died on hunger strike in a British prison in 1981 and Edward Brown, a British orientalist known for his work on Iranian history.
Washington and its allies say Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, and have imposed sanctions on the country. But Tehran maintains its controversial nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
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