Iran leader Khamenei, rifle at his side, vows resistance against Israel

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Iran leader Khamenei, rifle at his side, vows resistance against *******

By Jana Choukeir

(Reuters) -With a rifle by his side, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared in public on Friday for the first time since Iran’s latest missile ******* on *******, describing the strike as legitimate punishment for what he called ******** *******.

Delivering his first Friday prayers sermon in nearly five years, Khamenei said resistance against ******* in the region would not back down even with the ******** of its leaders.

Every now and then his hand grasped the barrel of a rifle that stood to his left. Khamenei occasionally speaks in public with a rifle at his side, a practice often adopted by Iranian clerics in the years following the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Speaking alternately in Arabic and Persian, Khamenei eulogised Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, ******* in an ******** strike in Beirut on Sept 27, and said the focus of the U.S. and its allies was to preserve the security of ******* as a cover for seizing the region’s resources and exporting them to the west.

“Our resistant people in Lebanon and Palestine, all these testimonies and spilled blood will not shake your will, but rather strengthen your steadfastness”, Khamenei said.

Iran launched a barrage of missiles against ******* on Tuesday in what it said was retaliation for the ******** of Nasrallah, leader of Iran’s top paramilitary ally in the region, and the ************** of ****** chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.

Iran blames ******* for Haniyeh’s ********. ******** officials have not claimed responsibility.

“******* pretends to win through assassinations, destruction, ******** and ******** of civilians. This behaviour increased the resistance’s motivation”, Khamenei added. “This reality shows us that every strike launched by any group against ******* is a service to the region and to all humanity.”

Khamenei said Iran’s ******* on ******* on Tuesday was “legal and legitimate” and was the minimum punishment for what he called *******’s *******.

Khamenei told the large crowd that Iran will not “procrastinate nor act hastily to carry out its duty” in confronting *******, adding that the missile ******* on ******* was “legal and legitimate.”

(Reporting by Dubai newsroom and Jana Choukeir; Editing by Alex Richardson and Sharon Singleton, William Maclean)

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Iran #leader #Khamenei #rifle #side #vows #resistance #*******

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up