Iran's supreme chief makes first public look since Iran-Israel struggle began

[ad_1] Iran’ s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday made his first public look for the reason that 12-day war between Israel and Iran started, attending a mourning ceremony on the eve of Ashoura .

Khamenei’s absence throughout the struggle steered heavy safety for the Iranian chief, who has last say on all state issues. State TV in Iran confirmed him waving and nodding to the chanting crowd, which rose to its ft as he entered and sat at a mosque subsequent to his workplace and residence within the capital, Tehran.

There was no instant report on any public assertion made. Iranian officers such because the Parliament speaker have been current. Such occasions are all the time held below heavy safety.

The 86-year-old Khamenei had spent the struggle in a bunker as threats to his life escalated.

After the U.S. inserted itself into the struggle by bombing three key nuclear sites in Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump despatched warnings through social media to Khamenei that the U.S. knew the place he was however had no plans to kill him, “at the least for now.”

On this photograph supplied by the Workplace of the Iranian Supreme Chief, Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attends a mourning ceremony commemorating the loss of life anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein, in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday, July 6, 2025. (Workplace of the Iranian Supreme Chief through AP)

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On June 26, shortly after a ceasefire started, Khamenei made his first public assertion in days, saying in a prerecorded assertion that Tehran had delivered a “slap to America’s face” by placing a U.S. air base in Qatar, and warning in opposition to additional assaults by the U.S. or Israel on Iran.

Trump replied, in remarks to reporters and on social media: “Look, you’re a person of nice religion. A person who’s extremely revered in his nation. It's a must to inform the reality. You bought beat to hell.”

Iran has acknowledged the deaths of greater than 900 individuals within the struggle, in addition to hundreds of injured. It additionally has confirmed critical harm to its nuclear services, and has denied entry to them for inspectors with the U.N. nuclear watchdog .

Iranian Shiite Muslims mourn in a ceremony as water is being sprayed for warmth administration, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 4, 2025, forward of Ashoura, a remembrance of the Seventh-century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein, who was killed in a battle in Karbala in present-day Iraq. (AP Photograph/Vahid Salemi)

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Iran’s president on Wednesday ordered the nation to droop its cooperation with the watchdog, the Worldwide Atomic Power Company, additional limiting inspectors’ capacity to trace a program that had been enriching uranium to close weapons-grade ranges. Israel launched the struggle fearing that Iran was making an attempt to develop atomic weapons.

It stays unclear simply how badly broken the nuclear services are, whether or not any enriched uranium or centrifuges had been moved earlier than the assaults, and whether or not Tehran nonetheless could be keen to proceed negotiations with america over its nuclear program.

Israel additionally focused protection programs, high-ranking military officials and atomic scientists . In retaliation, Iran fired greater than 550 ballistic missiles at Israel, most of them intercepted, killing 28 individuals and inflicting harm in lots of areas.

Ceremony commemorates a loss of life that brought about rift in Islam The ceremony that Khamenei hosted Saturday was a remembrance of the Seventh century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein.

Shiites symbolize over 10% of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims, and so they view Hussein because the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad. Hussein’s loss of life in battle by the hands of Sunnis at Karbala, south of Baghdad, created a rift in Islam and continues to play a key function in shaping Shiite id.

In predominantly Shiite Iran, purple flags represented Hussein’s blood and black funeral tents and garments represented mourning. Processions of chest-beating and self-flagellating males demonstrated fervor. Some sprayed water over the mourners within the intense warmth.

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Related Press author Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed.

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