Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declared that Tuesday’s miss!le attack on Israel was only the “least punishment” and warned of further strikes if necessary. On Tuesday, Iran fired about 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, claiming the move was in retaliation for the assass!nation of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others.
In a Friday speech in Tehran, Khamenei defended the missile strike as both “legal and legitimate,” asserting it as a justified response. He made these remarks while standing beside a rifle barrel, marking his first appearance leading Friday prayers in nearly five years. The last time he did so was to honor Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who was k!lled in a U.S. airstrike in 2020.
Khamenei revealed that the missile attack was partly in response to Nasrallah’s k!lling in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut the previous week. He dedicated much of his speech to praising Hezbollah and its fallen leader, as well as Hamas, commending their October 7 assault on Israel as “legitimate.”
In a significant part of his speech, delivered in Arabic to resonate with Lebanese and Palestinian audiences, Khamenei declared that “Israel will never defeat Hamas and Hezbollah.” He also stated that Palestinians have the right to defend themselves against those who have taken their land and homes.
In response to Hamas’ October 7 attack, Israel has intensified its military operations, targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, conducting airstrikes in Gaza and Beirut, and threatening to retaliate for Iran’s m!ssile strikes.