‘We Won’t Back Down’: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei Defends Strikes on Israel in Rare Public Speech

In a statement made on Friday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared that Iran and its regional allies will remain steadfast against Israel, following an Israeli airstrike in Beirut believed to have aimed at the successor of the assassinated leader of Iran-supported Hezbollah.

Tensions escalated earlier this week when Iran launched missiles at Israel in response to the killing of Hezbollah’s secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, a prominent leader who significantly enhanced the group’s military and political influence throughout the Middle East.

Israel has promised a response as oil prices climb amid fears of a potential attack on Iran’s oil facilities.

In a rare address leading Friday prayers in Tehran, Khamenei asserted, “The resistance in the region will not back down, even with the killing of its leaders,” referencing Nasrallah and labeling the group’s actions against Israel as both legal and legitimate.

Notably, Khamenei did not mention Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, who is rumored to be Nasrallah’s successor. According to Axios reporter Barak Ravid, three Israeli officials indicated that Safieddine was targeted in an underground bunker in Beirut overnight.

Israeli strikes have increasingly targeted medical facilities and aid workers in recent days. A strike late on Wednesday hit a building in central Beirut used by Hezbollah-affiliated rescue workers, killing nine, the Lebanese health ministry said.

An Israeli strike on Friday resulted in the death of a rescuer from the same unit in the southern suburbs of Beirut, and another strike near the main hospital of the southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun. The hospital superintendent, Mounes Klakesh, informed Reuters that the medical staff had elected to temporarily evacuate.

Israel accuses the militants of hiding among civilians, which Hezbollah denies.

In the group’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs, many buildings have been reduced to rubble by a week of intensive strikes on the area. Along a main market street, known as Moawad Souk, nearly all the storefronts had been damaged and the street was filled with broken glass.

Frances Ibiefo

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