Tehran: Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has vowed to avenge the killing of his father and predecessor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as he declared that retribution is the “demand of the nation” and would inevitably be carried out.
In his first public message since weeklong funeral ceremonies for Ayatollah Khamenei took place, Mojtaba issued a written statement broadcast on Iranian state television.
He pledged to “avenge the blood” of Khamenei and the “martyrs” killed in the US-Iran war.
“We pledge to avenge the blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs of these two wars from the criminal and disgraced killers,” Mojtaba said in the message.
The vengeance of Iran must “inevitably be carried out”, irrespective of his personal existence or that of other officials.
“Whether we are present or not, it will come to pass,” Khamen
ei wrote.
He expressed his gratitude towards the “enemy-shattering” turnout at the funeral ceremonies across Iran and Iraq.
“I extend my heartfelt gratitude for the incredible, enemy-shattering, and historic turnout of tens of millions of people across Iran and Iraq, particularly in Tehran, Qom, Najaf, Karbala and Mashhad,” Mojtaba wrote.
The funeral ceremonies of Khamenei were held more than four months after he was killed in the US-Israeli strikes in Tehran on February 28.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was laid to rest at the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad late on Thursday night.
Trump knows he’s on hit list
A day before Khamenei’s statement, Donald Trump said he has been on Iran’s “list” for a long time.
“I’ve been on their list for a long time. That’s what we’re dealing with… The only thing is, I’ve left instructions, if anything happens, to just literally bomb them at levels that they’ve never seen before,” the US President told the New York Post.
Asked about the new plot by Iran to assassinate him that Israel warned about, Trump said that there were no new plans.
“No, no. Israel came up with nothing. No, no… I’ve been No. 1 (on Iran’s kill list) for a long time, and it’s the way life is, you know,” Trump said.
At the end of the NATO Summit in Ankara, Trump changed his plans while travelling back to the United States, with the White House later acknowledging it to be a security tactic for the President’s safety.