Iran will never abandon its quest for revenge over the assassination of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Army chief said, more than four months after he was martyred in a US-Israeli airstrike.
Major General Amir Hatami made the remarks on Sunday, on the second day of public funerals held for Ayatollah Khamenei and his martyred family members.
‘Those who committed this crime must know that the nation of Iran and all of us will never cease in our pursuit of and demand for justice. We will not let go of them, and this is a definitive decision that we will follow through until we achieve results,’ said Hatami.
Ayatollah Khamenei, along with his daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, and several top military commanders, were martyred in the attack targeting his office in Tehran on February 28, the opening day of the US-Israeli aggression on Iran.
The aggression prompted a massive Iranian response, including attacks on US military bases and assets in the region, as well as missile strikes on Israeli-occupied territories.
However, Iranian authorities have repeatedly said that the country seeks a final and definitive revenge for the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei, a revered cleric and a source of emulation for Muslims around the world.
The late Leader was 86 when he was assassinated by the US and the Israeli regime.
He was the second most prominent figure in Iran’s post-Revolution history and succeeded the founder of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, in 1989 after serving two four-year presidential terms.
People have been turning out in their millions at Tehran’s Mosalla mosque to bid farewell to Ayatollah Khamenei and his family members.
Ayatollah Khamenei will be laid to rest in the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS) in his hometown of Mashhad on Thursday, after three days of funeral processions in Tehran, the central city of Qom, and in Iraq.
Iran’s top Navy commander says the Axis of Resistance is no longer confined by geography, warning that Israel and the United States will face a united Islamic front following the martyrdom of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
Speaking to Yemen’s Al Masirah television, Rear Admiral Shahram Irani said the followers of the martyred Leader have ‘gathered today to renew the bond of brotherhood and unity they learned from his teachings.
‘Resistance is no longer limited to geographical boundaries,’ he said, warning that the enemy ‘must understand that today it is not confronting a single country, but the greater Islamic nation and the Islamic Resistance’.
Irani also warned that Israel and its allies should brace for retaliation by Muslim fighters seeking to avenge those martyred in the US-Israeli war against Iran, saying they would face ‘a crushing blow that will shatter them’.
He made the remarks on the sidelines of the farewell ceremony for Ayatollah Khamenei in Tehran on Sunday.
In separate remarks to the Yemeni broadcaster, Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, senior adviser to the late Leader, called on Muslim nations and ‘all free peoples’ of the world to stand together against the oppression of the United States and the Israeli regime.
Safavi said he was confident that unity among Muslim nations and the Axis of Resistance would strengthen the Islamic world and elevate it into one of the world’s major centres of power.
Millions of mourners from across Iran and abroad performed funeral prayers for Ayatollah Khamenei and members of his family at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Mosalla on Sunday.
The funeral prayers followed ceremonies that began on Friday with the arrival of dozens of world leaders and senior foreign officials in the capital.
The event drew one of the largest gatherings of foreign dignitaries in Iran in recent decades, with representatives from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, as well as international organisations, attending the ceremonies.
Funeral processions are scheduled to continue on Tuesday in the holy city of Qom and on Thursday in Mashhad, where Ayatollah Khamenei will be laid to rest at the shrine of Imam Reza.
The vice president of Lebanon’s Supreme Islamic Shia Council has praised Iran’s resistance against the United States and Israel, saying it has helped prevent wider instability in West Asia and contributed to the security of regional countries.
Sheikh Ali Al-Khatib made the remarks during a meeting with Ayatollah Reza Ramazani, Secretary-General of the AhlulBayt World Assembly in Tehran on Sunday, where he expressed appreciation for Iran’s support for Lebanon, its resistance and Shia community, saying the Lebanese people would remember Tehran’s steadfast backing.
Referring to recent regional developments, Khatib said Iran’s resistance to US and Israeli aggression has acted as a deterrent against broader regional conflict.
He also argued that if Iran had been defeated, Israel would have expanded its military aggression against other regional countries more freely.
Khatib also discussed the impact of Israeli military offensive in Lebanon, saying the country had endured widespread displacement, casualties and destruction. Despite those hardships, he said, the Lebanese people had demonstrated resilience, patience and unity.
Ramazani, for his part, reaffirmed Iran’s continued support for Lebanon, praising the determination of the Lebanese people in the face of ongoing challenges.
During his visit to Iran, Khatib attended the opening session of an international conference to commemorate the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. The event was organised on the sidelines of funeral ceremonies at the Tehran International Conference Centre on Saturday and attended by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, along with delegations from around 100 countries, according to Iranian media.
The Lebanese delegation included representatives of the Supreme Islamic Shia Council, the Amal Movement, the resistance movement Hezbollah, several Islamic political groups, religious scholars and other clerical figures.
During his visit, Khatib also took part in a working dinner hosted by Lebanese Ambassador to Iran Ahmad Sweid. The gathering was attended by members of the Lebanese delegation, representatives of Amal and Hezbollah, and several Iranian officials, including former Iranian ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani.
Participants reviewed recent developments in Lebanon and the wider region and exchanged views on the political outlook for the coming months, according to reports.
According to Iranian media reports, Khatib and the accompanying delegation travelled to the holy city of Qom on Sunday to visit the shrine of Hazrat Fatima Masumeh and meet senior Shia religious authorities and seminary officials.
Iran’s top operational commander said the country’s armed forces secured battlefield victories in the two recent imposed wars by following the defence priorities set by the late Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Martyr Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
Major General Ali Abdollahi, the commander of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters made the remarks on the sidelines of the farewell ceremony of the martyred leader of the Islamic Revolution and Commander-in-Chief Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Friday.
‘We were victorious on the battlefield thanks to the efforts of our warriors and the guidance of the Grand Ayatollah, Martyr Seyyed Ali Khamenei,’ he said.
Also speaking on the sidelines of the major event, Iran’s police chief, Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Radan, said that the power of the country’s armed forces has been showcased to the entire world after the Islamic Republic emerged victorious in its war against the strongest armies in the world.
‘If today the powerful armed forces stood against the strongest armies in the world, it was because of the efforts of the martyred leader of the nation,’ Radan said.
The chief of the Iranian Army was also among the senior commanders who paid tribute to the martyred leader on Friday.
Major General Amir Hatami vowed to avenge the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
‘With a stronger will, we declare to the enemies of the Iranian nation: America and the criminal Zionist regime that we will avenge the blood of the martyred Imam and the martyrs,’ Hatami said.
Iran has begun the first stage of funeral ceremonies for the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in a cowardly US-Israeli strike on the first day of the recent 40-day war on February 28, with foreign dignitaries and religious figures paying their respects at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla.
The Leader’s body, along with those of his companions, was transferred to Tehran’s Grand Mosalla early Friday and placed in the main prayer hall ahead of a two-day public farewell ceremony.
A senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said Saturday that Iran’s enemies would ‘take to their graves’ the hope of seeing the Iranian nation surrender, as mourners gathered for the funeral procession of the country’s martyred leader following the recent US-Israeli war.
Speaking during the farewell ceremony in Tehran, Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, deputy commander-in-chief of the IRGC, said Iranians would remain loyal to the late leader.
‘We will never be separated from the martyred Leader of the Revolution, because he has a place in our hearts, our souls and our very being,’ Vahidi said. He added that the late leader’s legacy would endure.
‘His presence is enduring and eternal for us, for our beloved Iran and for the Islamic Ummah, and we will never depart from his path,’ he said.
Addressing Iran’s adversaries, Vahidi added: ‘To those who cannot bear the sight of our land, we say: know that the pure blood of our martyred Imam will be a turning point in the victories of beloved Islam over global disbelief.’
He ended with a warning to Iran’s opponents.
‘You will take to your graves the dream of seeing this nation surrender – a nation that, with the shedding of this pure blood, draws closer every day to the peaks of power,’ he said.
The remarks came as foreign delegations continued arriving in Tehran for funeral ceremonies honouring Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, following a 40-day war that began with a US-Israeli aggression against Iran and ended with a ceasefire and a memorandum of understanding after Tehran’s strong military retaliation.
