Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is scheduled to lead 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.
This rare speech must also come three days before the first anniversary of the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israeli soil, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip, on October 7, 2023.
The ultimate decision-maker in the main issues of the Islamic Republic, Mr. Khamenei could shed light on the follow-up that Tehran intends to give to its attack, during which some 200 missiles were fired at Israel.
The Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s ideological army, said the operation was a retaliation measure for the assassinations of Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and one of their commanders, Abbas Nilforoushan, in an Israeli strike. in Beirut on September 27.
It also aimed to avenge the death of Hamas leader Ismaïl Haniyeh on July 31 in Tehran in an attack blamed on Israel by Iran and the Palestinian Islamist movement.
Friday prayer will be preceded by a “commemoration ceremony” in tribute 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 Mosalla Grand 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 American drone attack which had just killed the general in Baghdad Iranian Qassem Soleimani, a commander of the Guards.
Demonstration in Tehran
On Thursday, protesters carrying Hezbollah and Iranian flags gathered in front of the building that formerly housed the US embassy, now named “the espionage den”to denounce the « crimes » Israelis in Gaza and Lebanon, according to local media.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah are part of “the axis of resistance”uniting armed groups aligned with Iran across the Middle East, who have targeted Israel and its American ally.
According to analysts, Tuesday’s attack is a reaction to a series of setbacks recently suffered by Tehran and its strategy of alliances in the region, in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories but also in Iraq, Yemen and Syria.
On Wednesday, Mr. Khamenei, who declared public mourning for the death of Hassan Nasrallah, stressed that his death was not “not trivial”.
Iran has since declared its attack a “legitimate, responsible and effective response to punish the aggressor Zionist regime”and threatened Israel with“overwhelming attacks” if he fought back.
The Islamic Republic also warned the United States against any intervention, under penalty of “face a harsh response”after Washington declared that Iran must suffer the ” consequences “ of this operation, and says it is coordinating a response with Israeli officials.
US President Joe Biden spoke to the press on Thursday about « discussions » ongoing on possible Israeli strikes against Iranian oil infrastructure.
Tuesday’s attack was Iran’s second against Israel, following missile and drone attacks in April in retaliation for a deadly airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus that was blamed on Israel.
In both cases, the Israeli army said it had intercepted most of the shots, helped by its allies, first and foremost the United States.