TEHRAN, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of thousands of Iranians attended nationwide rallies on Friday to celebrate the 38th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic revolution in 1979.

People in the Iranian cities swarmed to the streets carrying images of the late founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Seyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini, and his successor, incumbent leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In the capital Tehran, people carried flags and banners in support of the Islamic establishment and chanted anti-U.S., anti-Israeli slogans.

Earlier, Khamenei and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani called for mass turnout in the rallies to condemn the U.S. recent threats against the Islamic republic.

The 1979 revolution in Iran toppled the U.S.-backed regime of Shah and brought the country under the leadership of Khomeini, an event seen as a turning point in Iran's history.