Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said Iran and its regional allies will not back down against Israel and called for unity among Muslim nations as he delivered a rare Friday sermon,
Al Jazeera reports.
Khamenei led prayers at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla mosque in central Tehran in his first public appearance since Iran launched a massive barrage of some 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday.
That attack was in retaliation for Israel’s killings of senior Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) figures, including Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and escalating attacks in Lebanon.
“The resistance in the region will not back down even with the killing of its leaders,” Khamenei said, calling Iran’s attack on Israel “legal and legitimate”.
“The operations were … in return for the heinous crimes committed by this bloodthirsty criminal entity,” he said.
“We will not act irrationally … not act impulsively”, he said, adding that the country would follow decisions “handed down by our political and military leadership”.
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar said the event was being held at a “delicate and intense time”.
