Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said on Saturday that avenging his slain predecessor and father was “the demand of the nation” and “must certainly” take place, according to a written message released on his Telegram account. President Donald Trump earlier said the United States would “completely decimate” Iran if it attempted, or succeeded in, assassinating him.
Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since he was wounded in the US-Israeli air strikes that killed his father and wife – even at their week-long funeral ceremonies this week. While his injuries and the threat of assassination could well have played a role in his disappearance, analysts suggest it may also signal a diminishing role for the country’s Supreme leader.
Mojtaba’s statement was published after the burial ceremony for his father. Throughout the weeklong funeral procession, there were massive public calls for the death of President Trump.
Mojtaba didn’t specifically mention Trump. But earlier this week, Israel gave the U.S. information that suggested Iranian officials recently discussed the idea of assassinating Trump, U.S. and Israeli officials said.
He added that whether he is alive or dead, the revenge for his father’s death “will be accomplished,” and stressed that “soon, freedom-loving people throughout the world will each carry out part of this divine mission.”
On his way back from Turkey on Wednesday, Trump traveled in the old Air Force One plane rather than the new plane that the U.S. received from Qatar. The New York Times reported that security concerns prompted the mid-trip switch in planes.
Shortly before midnight on Friday, Trump published a post on his Truth Social account referring to the Iranian threats against him.
- “1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the Globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!,” he wrote.
- Trump added that he has already given orders to the U.S. military “for a one year period of time, subject to extension, to completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran.”
Other key developments:
- Israel shared intelligence with the United States this week about a new and “specific” plan by Iran to assassinate President Donald Trump, US media reported Thursday.
- Iran on Friday laid to rest its former supreme leader Ali Khamenei over four months after his killing in an airstrike, as two days of US and Iranian attacks raised fears of a return to all-out war.
- Qatari negotiators were in Iran to meet Iranian officials in an effort to de-escalate tensions and create conditions for broader negotiations to continue, a source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters, adding that the talks were being conducted in coordination with the United States.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP , AFP and AXIOS)
