Iran's Khamenei praises October 7 Hamas attack and calls missile attack on Israel 'minimum punishment'

Supreme leader calls on Hamas and Hezbollah to keep fighting as Israel intensifies bombings in Lebanon

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said resistance movements in the region supported by his country will continue. EPA

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Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised the Hamas-led October 7 attacks against Israel, during a rare Friday sermon in Tehran.

Mr Khamenei defended his country's ballistic missile attack on Tuesday as “minimum punishment” for the Israelis' “crimes” and said Iran will not hesitate to strike Israel again. Resistance movements supported by Tehran will also continue, he added.

His remarks came hours after an Israeli strike was aimed at Hashem Safieddine, who is seen as most likely to succeed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed in an Israeli strike a week ago.

“The brilliant action of our armed forces a couple of nights ago was completely legal and legitimate,” Mr Khamenei said, referring to Iran's missile barrage towards Israel. He was speaking at a commemoration ceremony for Nasrallah after leading prayers at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla Mosque in central Tehran for the first time in five years.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi who arrived in Lebanon on Friday morning said his visit while Lebanon was under attack was a show of solidarity to the people of Lebanon.

Defending his country's missile attack on Israel on Tuesday, he said other regional governments should also "display steadfastness in their support for Lebanon".

Mr Araghchi, who also met Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, said Iran supports a ceasefire in Lebanon provided it was backed by Hezbollah and comes with a ceasefire in Gaza as well.

Back in Iran, Mr Khamenei urged Muslims to “unite” against a common enemy, be it in Afghanistan, Yemen, Gaza, or Lebanon. In the first part of his speech, delivered in Persian, he urged Palestinian fighters not to become “weakened in the face of bloodshed”.

He said Israel will never be victorious over Hamas or Hezbollah and that its recent actions have only strengthened resistance movements.

Shortly after Israel launched its war against Hamas in Gaza, Iran-backed militias across the Middle East announced a “unity front” to support their Palestinian ally, focusing mainly on co-ordinating attacks against Israeli targets.

“The resistance in the region will not back down,” Mr Khamenei said.

Mr Khamenei's sermon came three days before the anniversary of Israel's war in Gaza.

The last time he led Friday prayers was in January 2020, after Iran fired missiles at a US army base in Iraq. Tehran said that attack was in response to a US strike that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force general Qassem Suleimani, near Baghdad International Airport.

Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday, stating it was in retaliation for Israel's killing of Nasrallah, alongside an IRGC commander, Abbas Nilforoushan, and for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July. Iran has warned that any retaliation from Israel will provoke a “stronger and more powerful” response.

The US called Iran’s attack “unacceptable” and said it was working with G7 allies for a co-ordinated response. But President Joe Biden has made it clear he would not support an Israeli strike on sites related to Tehran’s nuclear programme.

The southern suburbs of Beirut on Thursday night faced one of the most intense air strikes of the continuing hostilities. The attacks came minutes after Hezbollah announced it had launched Fadi-2 missiles towards a military base near the northern Israeli city of Haifa.