Iran: Ayatollah Khamenei makes rare speech on Friday after attack on Israel

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is scheduled to lead the weekly prayers on Friday and deliver a sermon that could set the tone for Iran's plans after its missile attack on Israel on Tuesday.

The rare speech also comes three days before the first anniversary of the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israeli soil that sparked war in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.

As the ultimate decision-maker in the Islamic Republic's major issues, Mr. Khamenei could shed light on the consequences that Tehran intends to give to its attack, during which some 200 missiles were fired at Israel.

The Revolutionary Guards, Iran's ideological army, indicated that this operation was a measure of retaliation for the assassinations of the head of Lebanese Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, and one of their commanders, Abbas Nilforoushan, in an Israeli strike in Beirut on September 27.

It was also aimed at avenging the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on July 31 in Tehran in an attack blamed on Israel by Iran and the Palestinian Islamist movement.

Friday's prayer will be preceded by a “commemoration ceremony” in homage to Hassan Nasrallah, according to Ayatollah Khamenei's website. This is to be held at 10:30 a.m. local time (07:00 GMT) in the great Mosalla mosque in the center of the Iranian capital.

The last time Mr Khamenei led Friday prayers was in January 2020, after an Iranian missile attack on two bases housing Americans in Iraq, in response to the US drone strike that had just killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, a commander of the Guards, in Baghdad.

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– Protest in Tehran –

On Thursday, protesters carrying Hezbollah and Iranian flags gathered outside the building that once housed the US embassy, ​​now dubbed the “spy den”, to denounce Israeli “crimes” in Gaza and Lebanon, according to local media.

Hamas and Hezbollah are both part of the “axis of resistance,” a group of armed groups aligned with Iran across the Middle East that have targeted Israel and its U.S. ally.

Analysts say Tuesday's attack is a response to a series of recent setbacks for Tehran and its alliance-building strategy in the region, in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories as well as in Iraq, Yemen and Syria.

On Wednesday, Mr. Khamenei, who declared public mourning for Hassan Nasrallah, stressed that his death was “not insignificant.”

Iran has since said its attack was a “legitimate, responsible and effective response to punish the aggressor Zionist regime,” and threatened Israel with “crushing attacks” if it retaliated.

The Islamic Republic also warned the United States against any intervention, under penalty of “facing a severe response,” after Washington said Iran must face “consequences” for the operation, and said it was coordinating a response with Israeli officials.

US President Joe Biden spoke to reporters on Thursday about ongoing “discussions” about possible Israeli strikes on Iranian oil infrastructure.

Tuesday's attack was Iran's second against Israel, after missile and drone strikes in April in retaliation for a deadly airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus that Israel blamed.

In both cases, the Israeli military said it intercepted most of the strikes, aided by its allies, first and foremost the United States.

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