Iran’s new Supreme Leader vows revenge for father’s killing
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has vowed to avenge the death of his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, declaring that retaliation reflects the will of the Iranian people.
In his first public message since funeral ceremonies for the late leader began this week, Khamenei issued a written statement that was read on state television.
Ali Khamenei was killed in an airstrike on February 28, the opening day of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.
During funeral events over the past several days, many mourners carried placards calling for the assassination of US President Donald Trump. On Saturday, Trump warned that any attempt on his life would trigger overwhelming US military retaliation, saying America would “decimate and destroy all areas” of Iran.
Ali Khamenei was laid to rest in his hometown of Mashhad on Friday.
His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not appeared publicly since before the war, amid reports that he suffered injuries in the strike that killed his father.
In his statement, however, the new Supreme Leader adopted a defiant tone.
“We pledge to avenge the blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs of these two wars from the criminal and disgraced killers,” he said.
He added that the promise of revenge was not dependent on any individual leader remaining in office.
“The matter depends neither on my personal existence nor on that of other officials. Whether we are present or not, it will come to pass,” he stated.
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal and other US media outlets reported that Israel had shared intelligence with Washington alleging Iran had recently developed a plan to assassinate President Trump.
Trump dismissed reports of any new assassination plot, while also rejecting claims that Israel was the source of such intelligence. Speaking to the New York Post, he said he had been “No. 1 on Iran’s kill list for a long time.”
The conflict began on February 28 with coordinated US and Israeli strikes on Iran, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory attacks against Israel as well as US military targets and allies in the Gulf.
Although the United States and Iran agreed to a ceasefire in June to pave the way for negotiations, tensions resurfaced earlier this week after three commercial oil tankers were attacked while transiting a US-recommended shipping route through Omani waters. Iran has consistently maintained that vessels should instead use a separate route passing through its territorial waters.
The tanker attacks were followed by US airstrikes that Iranian officials said killed 17 people and injured 115 others. Iran subsequently retaliated by targeting US allies in the Gulf.
The renewed exchange of attacks led President Trump to declare the ceasefire effectively over, although he said diplomatic talks would continue.
US officials have reportedly used mediators to urge Iran to publicly guarantee safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz and commit to ending attacks on commercial shipping.
According to US media reports, Iranian officials told their American counterparts that the tanker attacks were accidental and blamed the incident on a rogue internal faction.
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