Supreme Leader Of Iran Khamenei: Israel Pretends To Win Through Murder

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei/PHOTO IRNA

JAKARTA - With a rifle by his side, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared in public for the first time since Iran's latest missile attack on Israel. Khamenei described the attack as a legitimate punishment for what he called Israel's crimes.

Delivering his first Friday prayer sermon in nearly five years, Khamenei said the resistance to Israel in the region would not recede even with the killing of its leaders.

Every now and then his hand holds a rifle that stands on his left.

Khamenei sometimes spoke in public with rifles by her side, a practice often practiced by Iranian clerics in the years following the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Speaking alternately in Arabic and Persian, Khamenei praised Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli attack in Beirut on September 27.

He said the focus of the US and its allies was on keeping Israel safe as a cover to seize resources in the region and export it to the west.

"The resistance of our people in Lebanon and Palestine, all these testimonies and bloodshed will not shake your will, but to strengthen your fortitude," Khamenei said.

Iran launched a series of missiles against Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for the assassination of Nasrallah, the leader of Iran's main paramilitary ally in the region, and the assassination of Hamas chairman Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.

Iran blames Israel for the murder of Haniyeh.

Israel pretends to win through the killings, destructions, bombings, and killings of civilians. This behavior increases the spirit of resistance," Khamenei said.

"This reality shows us that any attack launched by any group against Israel is a service to the region and to all mankind," he added.