“This week’s Friday Prayer will be led by Imam Khamenei,” read an announcement on the Iranian supreme leader’s official website.
The ceremony, which will be held in the Grand Imam Khomeini Musalla (prayer hall) in central Tehran, will follow a commemoration ceremony for slain Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last Friday.
This will be Khamenei’s first sermon in nearly half a decade. He last led the Friday prayer in January 2020 after Iran launched several missiles at US military bases in Iraq in response to the death of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Qasem Soleimani in a US strike.
The sermon comes days after the IRGC launched a barrage of missiles at Israel in retaliation to the killing of Nasrallah, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, and an IRGC commander - all blamed on Israel.
Israel has only confirmed its involvement in the assassination of Nasrallah.
Iran’s permanent mission to the UN, Amir Saeed Iravani, said on Tuesday that Tehran’s “legitimate response to the terrorist acts of the Zionist regime - which involved targeting Iranian nationals and interests and infringing upon the national sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran - has been duly carried out.”
Iran’s representative warned that if Israel “dares to respond… a subsequent and crushing response will ensue.”
Daniel Hagari, the spokesperson for Israel’s defense forces, called Iran’s actions “a severe and dangerous escalation.”
“There will be consequences,” he said. “We will respond wherever, whenever, and however we choose, in accordance with the directive of the government of Israel.”
Following the attack, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said his country does not seek war with Israel.
“Based on legitimate rights, and with the aim of peace and security for Iran and the region, a decisive response was given to the aggressions of the Zionist regime. This action was in defense of the interests and citizens of Iran,” Pezeshkian said in a post on X hours after the attack.
He added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “should know that Iran is not war-seeking but stands firmly against any threat. This is only a glimpse of our capabilities. Do not engage in conflict with Iran.”
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