An image published on Ali Khamenei's official website on September 25, 2019 showing Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader, left, alongside Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, center, and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani. (Khamenei.ir)
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed Saturday to avenge the killing by Israel of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, in a statement that was released as he was transferred to a secure location inside the country amid heightened security measures.
“The blood of the martyr shall not go unavenged,” Khamenei said in the statement, in which he announced five days of mourning to mark Nasrallah’s death.
The move to safeguard Iran’s top decision-maker, confirmed to Reuters by sources who spoke anonymously, was the latest show of nervousness by the Iranian authorities as Israel launched a series of devastating attacks on Hezbollah, Iran’s best armed and most well-equipped ally in the region.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed Saturday to avenge the killing by Israel of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, in a statement that was released as he was transferred to a secure location inside the country amid heightened security measures.
“The blood of the martyr shall not go unavenged,” Khamenei said in the statement, in which he announced five days of mourning to mark Nasrallah’s death.
The move to safeguard Iran’s top decision-maker, confirmed to Reuters by sources who spoke anonymously, was the latest show of nervousness by the Iranian authorities as Israel launched a series of devastating attacks on Hezbollah, Iran’s best armed and most well-equipped ally in the region.
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Sources said Iran was in constant contact with Lebanon’s Hezbollah and other regional proxy groups to determine the next step after Israel killed Nasrallah in a strike on south Beirut on Friday.
Following the announcement that Nasrallah had been killed, Khamenei condemned what he called an Israeli “massacre” in Lebanon. The death toll in the massive strike that flattened six buildings above Hezbollah’s headquarters is not yet clear.
“The massacre of the defenseless people in Lebanon once again revealed the ferocity of the Zionist rabid dog to everyone, and proved the shortsighted and stupid policy of the leaders of the usurping regime,” he said.
Iran announced on Saturday that a prominent general in its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard was also killed alongside Nasrallah in the strike on Friday.
Khamenei called on Muslims “to stand by the people of Lebanon and the proud Hezbollah with whatever means they have and assist them in confronting the… wicked regime [of Israel].”
