In a rare public sermon delivered on Friday, Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei defended his country\u2019s recent missile strike on Israel, calling it both “legal and legitimate.” He emphasized that regional resistance forces would not back down, even after losing key leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Khamenei\u2019s remarks, made during Friday prayers in Tehran, marked his first such appearance in nearly five years. According to AFP, Khamenei stated that Iran will neither delay nor act recklessly in confronting Israel. He described the missile barrage on Tuesday\u2014nearly 200 rockets launched toward Israel\u2014as a justified response to what he called Israel’s “crimes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe resistance in the region will continue, undeterred, even with the assassination of its leaders,\u201d Khamenei declared, referencing the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during the sermon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The comments followed news from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that Mohammad Rashid Sakafi, Hezbollah’s communications commander, was killed in an airstrike in Beirut. The IDF described Sakafi as a senior figure responsible for Hezbollah\u2019s communications infrastructure since 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response to the missile strike, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan noted earlier in the week that the attack was \u201cdefeated and ineffective.\u201d He highlighted that U.S. naval destroyers had coordinated with Israeli air defenses to intercept the missiles. Sullivan also confirmed that President Biden, Vice President Harris, and national security officials closely monitored the situation from the White House Situation Room.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a rare public sermon delivered on Friday, Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei defended his country\u2019s recent missile strike on Israel, calling it both “legal and legitimate.” He emphasized that regional resistance forces would not back down, even after losing key leaders. Khamenei\u2019s remarks, made during Friday prayers in Tehran, marked his first such […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-military-veterans","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n