Israel common enemy of all Muslims: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to defeat the country’s “enemies” in his rare Friday sermon, backing Palestinians and Lebanese movements against Israel.

Addressing a gathering of tens of thousands of supporters at a mosque in Tehran, Khamenei justified its missile strikes on Israel as a “public service”.

Khamenei pressed on the “unity” of Muslims around the world based on the principles of Quran. He said that Iran’s enemy is the same as the enemy of a Palestinian state, Lebanon and other Muslim nations. 

“The policies adopted by our enemy is to sow the seeds of division and sedition, to drive a wedge among all the Muslims. They are the same enemies to the Palestinians, Lebanese, Egyptians, and the Iraqis. They are the enemy to the Yemeni and Syrian people,” Khamenei said. 

He praised Iran’s Tuesday attack on Israel calling it completely “legal” adding that what they did was the minimum punishment” for Israel against their “astonishing crimes”.

The Supreme Leader, who kept a rifle by his side during the address, dubbed Israel as a “vampire” regime and the US a “rabid dog” in the region.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed that the Islamic Republic will carry out “any related duties” against Israel with “strength and fortitude”.

During his speech, Khamenei stressed twice that Iran will not “hesitate” nor “procrastinate” when it comes to Israel. He said that every country has the right to defend itself from aggressors and said the Muslim nations have to prepare their “defence against the common enemy”.

“Each and every country, each and every people have the ultimate right to defend themselves against the ultimate tyranny,” he said, three days ahead of the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel that triggered a larger war in Gaza.

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Delivering the later part of his speech in Arabic, Khamenei spoke on behalf of Palestine saying the people there “have a lawful right to defend themselves.” 

“To stand up to those criminals – the occupation forces. There is not a single court or international organisation that can blame the Palestinian people for simply defending their homeland,” he added.  

In his speech, he also praised Hassan Nasrallah, the former chief of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last week.

“Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is no longer with us, but his spirit and his path will continue to inspire us forever. He was the high-standing flag against the Zionist enemy. His martyrdom will further increase this influence. The loss of Nasrallah is not in vain. We must stand up against the enemy while strengthening our unwavering faith,” Khamenei told the gathering.