Trans Asia News
Tehran– Leading a rare Friday prayer to commemorate the death of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei said that Muslims should strengthen their defences across all Islamic countries and vowed to strike Israel again amid the escalating tension in the region.
A gun in hand, the 85 year old Iran leader declared that Israel would not prevail against resistance as chants of “we are with you” from the crowd of tens of thousands echoed in the vast mosque grounds.
Iran leaders first Friday sermon in five years marks a crucial show of defiance amid threats to his life. He remains a top target for Israel, which has vowed to retaliate after Tuesday’s missile attacks. Several Western media outlets have been reporting that the leader has been transferred to a “secure location with increased security measures” following Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on September 27 and subsequent Iranian retaliation against Israel.
“The brilliant work of our armed forces was completely legal and legitimate. What our armed forces did was the least punishment for the usurping Zionist regime over the astonishing crimes of this wolf-like regime and rabid dog of America,” he said.
The Supreme Leader told the massive congregation that Iran will not “procrastinate nor act hastily to carry out its duty” in confronting Israel, adding that the missile attack on Israel was “legal and legitimate.”
Iran launched a barrage of missiles against Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for Israeli strikes that killed Hezbollah leader in Beirut last Friday and the assassination of Hamas’ chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.
Ayatollah Khamenei called Israel a “tool” for the United States “to take control of all the lands and resources in the region.”
“There is no doubt that the Zionists and the Americans are dreaming – the Zionist entity will be uprooted from the ground, it has no roots, it is fake, unstable, and exists only because of American support,” he said.
“The enemy is working everywhere with a special method, but the operations room is the same and they take orders from there. If the enemy is relieved of one country, he will go to the next country,” he said.
Sayyed Khamenei stated that every community has the right to defend its sovereignty and self-determination against occupiers, asserting that no international law prevents Palestinians from defending their land and exercising their duty in liberating their land, and further adding that no one has the right to oppose Hezbollah for its decision to support the Palestinian people.
He urged nations from “Afghanistan to Yemen and from Iran to Gaza and Yemen” to be ready to take action against the enemy, and praised those who had died doing so.
“Our resisting people in Lebanon and Palestine, you brave fighters, you loyal and patient people, these martyrdoms and the blood that was shed shouldn’t shake your determination but make you more persistent,” he said.
Friday prayers followed a commemoration ceremony for Sayyed Nasrallah. Most high-ranking Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and top Revolutionary Guard generals, attended the ceremony.
Sayyed Khamenei gave half of the speech in Arabic as he addressed his comments to Arab nations.
“Sayyed 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.”
Ayatollah Khamenei described Nasrallah “my brother, my dear and my pride, the beloved face of the Islamic world, and the eloquent voice of the nations of the region, [and] the shining jewel of Lebanon”.
“I felt it necessary to pay tribute to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in the Friday prayer in Tehran, and to convey some notifications to everyone.”
“The audience of this sermon is the whole Islamic world, but it is specially addressed to the dear nations of Lebanon and Palestine,” he said.
“We are all saddened and mourned by the martyrdom of dear Sayyed. This is a great loss and we are deeply saddened, but our mourning does not mean depression, distress and despair.
“It is a kind of mourning for the Master of Martyrs Hussein ibn Ali. It is enlivening, instructive, motivating, and hopeful,” the Leader said, referring to Imam Hussein (AS), the third Imam of Shia Muslims.
Ayatollah Khamenei said though Nasrallah’s body has left this world, “his true personality, his soul, his way, and his expressive voice are still among us and will be with us forever”.
He added that Hezbollah and its late leader are the essence of Lebanon’s Resistance, “[an essence] we came to know through the graces it offered”, highlighting that Hezbollah and its martyred leader have taken a vital step for peace for the entire region through their defense of Gaza.
“He was the high flag of resistance against oppressive and predatory demons – an eloquent voice and a brave defender of the oppressed. He was a source of encouragement and valor for fighters and rights seekers. His popularity and influence had gone beyond Lebanon, Iran and Arab countries, and now his martyrdom will increase this influence.”
Ayatollah Khamenei said all Muslims are bound to “pay their debt to the wounded and bloody Lebenon”.
“Hezbollah and the Martyr Sayyed, by defending Gaza and Jihad for Al-Aqsa Mosque and striking the usurping and tyrannical regime, took a step in the path of vital service to the entire region and the entire Islamic world,” the Leader said.
He said the adamancy of the US and its allies on protecting Israel is a “cover for the deadly policy of turning the usurping regime into their tool to take over all the resources of this region and use it in major global conflicts”.
“Their policy is to turn the regime into a gateway for the export of energy from the region to the Western world and the import of goods and technology from the West to the region.
“This tells us that every attack on the regime by anyone and every group is a service to the entire region and to the entire humanity,” he added.
Ayatollah Khamenei last led Friday prayers in January 2020 after Iran fired missiles at a US army base in Iraq, in response to assasination of popular Iranian commander General Qassem Soleimani.
During the sermon, thousands gathered at Tehran’s Mossala (Prayer Ground), where a large poster of Nasrallah was displayed. Worshippers waved Lebanese, Hezbollah and Palestinian flags, chanting slogans in support of Hezbollah.
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