Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for massive turnout on Quds Day slated for Friday, local media reported Thursday.

During a meeting with groups of people on Wednesday, Khamenei said a high turnout on Quds Day would give a crushing response to the enemies of Islam and Palestinians, according to Press TV.

Quds Day, officially in Iran known as International Quds Day, is an annual event that began in Iran in 1979 and is commemorated on the last Friday of Muslims' holy Ramadan month.

The Iranian leader described the occupation of the Palestinian territories and the formation of Israel as the root of "evil" in the Middle East, said the report.

"Had this conspiracy (the occupation of the Palestinian territories and the formation of Israel) not taken place, these wars, divisions and interventions by colonialists and oppressors would not have occurred (in the Middle East)," Khamenei was quoted as saying.

He urged Muslims to counter attempts by Israel and its allies to push the Palestinian issue into oblivion, said Press TV.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also called Wednesday for fervent participation in the rallies marking Quds Day.

In a speech he gave in the Saudi city of Mecca, Ahmadinejad described Quds Day as a "day of solidarity" with Palestinians, according to Press TV.

On Wednesday, Iranian dignitaries, religious scholars, organizations and political groups called for a massive turnout on Quds Day rallies on Friday, Tehran Times daily reported Thursday.

Quds Day rallies were first introduced in Iran in 1979 to express solidarity with the Palestinian people and oppose Zionism as well as Israel's control of Jerusalem. Quds is Jerusalem's Arabic name.

Quds Day is also commemorated in several Arab countries with protests against the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem.