Tehran: Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, on Saturday vowed to avenge the death of his father, former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was reportedly killed in Israeli-American strikes in February. In a written message shared on his Telegram channel during his father’s funeral, Mojtaba Khamenei said that seeking justice for his father and others killed in the conflict was a national duty.
In the message, he declared that Iran would pursue retaliation against those responsible for what he described as the killing of the country’s leader and other “martyrs” of the two wars.
The statement comes amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington. Earlier, US President Donald Trump warned Iran after calls for his assassination were reportedly made during Ali Khamenei’s funeral. Trump’s remarks followed demands from senior US officials for Iran to publicly guarantee that the Strait of Hormuz would remain open and safe for international shipping. Tehran has not issued such an assurance and has instead maintained its position on retaining control over the strategic waterway.
Why did the US resume attacks on Iran?
For the past few days, the US has been conducting renewed airstrikes targeting Iran; in retaliation, Iran has launched attacks on several countries in West Asia. These hostilities began after Iran attacked three vessels in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week. Writing on his platform ‘Truth Social,’ Trump stated, “A thousand missiles are ready, aimed at Iran. If the Iranian government acts on its threat, thousands more missiles will be launched immediately.”
What did Donald Trump say?
Trump stated that the US military would completely devastate and destroy all regions of Iran—”Thank God!” Trump has invoked the name of God in Arabic several times during the war and the ensuing unstable ceasefire. He has also threatened to destroy Iran’s civilization. The nationwide rights organization ‘Council on American-Islamic Relations’ had previously criticized Trump, accusing him of mocking Islam in a distorted manner.
When was Ayatollah Ali Khamenei laid to rest?
The late Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and other members of his family were laid to rest late Thursday night at the ‘Imam Reza Shrine’ in the city of Mashhad. According to the Iranian news agency IRNA, hundreds of thousands of people offered funeral prayers late at night, led by Khamenei’s eldest son, Hojjatoleslam Seyyed Mustafa Hosseini Khamenei. With this, the six-day mourning procession, which had been moving through cities in Iran and neighboring Iraq, concluded. A funeral ceremony was held on Tuesday in the central Iranian city of Qom, followed by mourning ceremonies the next day in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala.
