Ali Khamenei address in Arabic on Friday
Iran's Supreme leader Ali Khamenei said on Friday that the Hamas massacre of October 7 was justified. The Iranian leader spoke in a rare appearance leading Friday prayers in Tehran, speaking in Arabic. He also said the Iranian missile attack on Israel was minimal in light of its crimes and said Iran and its regional proxies would not back down from Israel.
"The brilliant action of our armed forces a couple of nights ago was completely legal and legitimate", Khamenei said.
He referred to slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as "a dear brother and source of pride." calling him the pearl of Lebanon and claiming his influence went beyond the borders of Lebanon and the Arab world.
"Nasrallah was the flag of resistance, the voice of the oppressed. Under his leadership Hezbollah grew one step after the other. The enemy thought it could defeat it by killing its leaders, by destruction and harm to civilians but it was unable to hurt Hamas, Hezbollah, the Islamic Jihad and other movements", Khamenei said.
An official close to Hezbollah told the AFP earlier that Nasrallah had been temporarily buried in a secret location fearing Israel would target a large funeral. "Hassan Nasrallah has been temporarily buried until the circumstances allow for a public funeral," the source said.
The Iranian regime came under criticism after Nasrallah's assassination for failing to respond to Israeli attacks including the killing of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last July. Friday's appearance was the first time in four years that the Supreme leader chose to lead prayers in Tehran, after the assassination of Quds force commander Qasem Soleimani by the United States, and his speech in Arab made clear that it was directed at Iran's proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
"Al-Aqsa Flood was the Palestinian's natural right," he said referring to the massacre on October 7. "Defense of the people of Lebanon, and Gaza is legitimate and no one can have the right to condemn it. So was the latest Iranian operation," he said.
He then addressed the Hezbollah's armed terrorists and said defense of that country was the duty of all Muslims. "The bloodshed must not weaken your resolve. The resistance will not back down because of the death of its people, and victory will be hers."
Khamenei said the U.S. aims to turn Israel into the source of energy for the West and to import Western goods into the Middle East. "Reality shows us that all the attacks against our enemies are a service to the entire region and to humanity."
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