Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has once again vowed to take revenge over his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s killed by the United States (US) and Israel, and said that the vengeance was ‘inevitable’. This was Mojtaba’s first statement following father’s funeral.
“This vengeance is the will of our nation and must inevitably be carried out,” he said in a written message signed on Friday. “This matter depends neither on my personal existence nor on that of other officials. Whether we are present or not, it will come to pass.”
Mojtaba, who was made Iran’s Supreme Leader after his father was killed in US-Israel joint strike on February 28, said taking a revenge is not dependent on his personal existence or other Iranian officials, and it “will come to pass”. He also thanked those who participated in his father’s funeral in Iran and the neighbouring Iraq, which he described as “enemy-shattering” turnout.
“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’s message read.
The funeral of Ali Khamenei
Ali Khamenei was laid to rest after nearly four months following his killing on Friday at the Imam Reza shrine in hometown of Mashhad. The funeral ceremony, which lasted six days, saw a massive participation of thousands of people; although Mojtaba stayed away from it due to ‘security reasons’. Notably, Mojtaba has not appeared in public since the Iran war started earlier this year.
The funeral was held even as the US and Iran continued to trade strikes following an attack on a merchant vessel in the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian authorities. The two sides have agreed for talks though, even as President Donald Trump said the ceasefire was ‘over’.
Earlier in the day, he also reiterated that the Strait of Hormuz remains open, assuring vessels considering to cross the critical waterway that they won’t be attacked. He also warned Iran once again and said a “thousandย missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed” at the Islamic Republic.
Iran, in response, has said the Hormuz falls under his control, and threatened to targeted American military assets in the region if it is attacked again.
ALSO READ – Why US does not want to involve Israel in its strikes on Iran as tensions escalate again in Mideast