Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in his first Friday sermon in half a decade warned Israel “will not last long” and, “Iran will strike again,” while displaying a Russian-made Dragunov rifle before thousands of worshippers who had gathered to commemorate the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah at the historic Imam Khomeini Mosque in Tehran.
Addressing the gathering on Oct 4 , Khamenei 85, said that Iran would not back down in the face of Israeli aggression and every country has the right to defend itself from aggressors.
"We must stand up against the enemy while strengthening our unwavering faith," he was quoted as saying, adding, “Israel will not last long.”
Paying tributes to Nasrallah killed in an Israeli strike on Oct 1, Khamenei vowed to strike Israel again amid the escalating tension in the region.
“Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah is no longer among us physically, but his path and his resonant voice are and will continue to be with us. He was the articulate voice and brave supporter of the oppressed,” he said.
He added, “The enemy of Iran is the enemy of Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, and Yemen. Khamenei defended Iran’s missile attack on Israel calling it “legal and legitimate.”
"The move taken by our armed forces was the least punishment in the face of the crimes of the Zionist regime," he said. "The brilliant action of our armed forces a couple of nights ago was completely legal and legitimate," he added.
Khamenei, who wields the highest authority in Iran while referring to Israel said, “The Palestinian nation has the right to stand against the enemy who has occupied its land and ruined its life. Defending the Palestinians is legitimate, and helping them is also legitimate.”
His sermon comes after Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel in response to the killing of Nasrallah and other key Hezbollah leaders in recent days.
Khamenei who spoke predominantly in Arabic and intermittently in Persian also used the opportunity of a public appearance to boost the morale of Iran's military and the nation as a whole following a a series of setbacks suffered by Tehran and its regional allies.
Citing the huge crowd listening to his sermon, Khamenei said ordinary people supported the leadership's decision to attack Israel.
Tensions between Iran and Israel mounted following the killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and top Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Abbas Nilforoushan in recent weeks.
The killing of Nasrallah, chief of the Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group has led to an unprecedented escalation between the two nations. Iran’s barrage of missiles towards Tel Aviv has literally brought the two nations to the brink of war.
Notably, Khamenei led Friday prayers in January 2020 after Iran fired missiles at a United States Army base in Iraq following a drone strike that killed top Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani.
