Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written message published on Saturday that avenging his predecessor and father is “a demand of the nation” and must be fulfilled.
The message came on the occasion of the funeral of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which was held months after he was killed in the first air raids of the Israeli-American war on Iran on February 28.
“We pledge to avenge your pure blood (…) This revenge is the will of our nation, and it will inevitably happen,” Mojtaba said in a letter dated Friday and published by the official news agency (IRNA) on Saturday.
In the letter, Khamenei said, “We pledge to avenge the blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs of these two wars from the killers and criminals.”
He added: “These criminals, whose names we have listed from the top of the pyramid to the bottom, will take their wish to die peacefully in bed to their graves.”
He said, “They should know that this matter does not depend on my presence or the presence of other officials.”
He continued, “Whether we are here or not, it will be accomplished, and soon individuals from among the free people around the world will each do a part of this divine mission.”
The body of Ali Khamenei was laid to rest at dawn on Friday in the city of Mashhad, at the conclusion of six days of ceremonies that included funeral processions at prominent Shiite shrines in Iran and Iraq, in the absence of the current Supreme Leader.
