Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei
All Forms of Resistance Against Israeli Occupation Are Legitimate
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei led Friday prayer on 4 October for the first time in five years. In his two sermons to worshippers, one delivered in Arabic, Khamenei asserted that both the Iranian missile attack earlier this week and Hamas’ operation Al-Aqsa Flood launched last year were legitimate responses to Israeli occupation of Palestine and its repeated aggressions against neighboring nations.
Khamenei also warned Israel not to carry out any provocative act against Iran in the future, and that his nation of Iran neither rushes nor hesitates in responding to provocations.
On Tuesday, Iran responded to repeated Israeli violations of its sovereignty by launching hundreds of missiles inside Israel. Iranian missiles targeted military installations and destroyed several such locations.
Israel assassinated Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh while he was visiting Tehran in July, and just last week, assassinated Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, along with several high ranking Iranian officials in airstrikes in Beirut. The incident also resulted in a high civilian death toll.
Following Iran’s attack on Israel, Israeli officials vowed a swift response and several US media organizations reported on Wednesday that Israel would likely target Iranian oil production facilities in its attacks. During a press conference on Friday October 4, US President Biden reportedly urged against attacking oil infrastructure.
Still, the Biden administration and several of its European allies have warned Iran of “severe consequences” for attacks on Tuesday, with the US declaring it will assist Israeli attacks in Iran if required.
Iran’s permanent mission in the UN reiterated warnings against any potential collaborators in Israeli attacks inside Iran. “Our response will be solely directed at the aggressor. Should any country render assistance to the aggressor, it shall likewise be deemed an accomplice and a legitimate target.”
It advised “countries to refrain from entangling themselves in the conflict between the Israeli regime and Iran and to distance themselves from the fray,” IRNA reported.
The Gulf countries, where the US has numerous military bases, including the headquarters of its Central Command and the base of its Navy’s fifth fleet, have meanwhile tried to distance themselves from any further escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict.
According to an exclusive report by Reuters, the Gulf states conveyed their message of neutrality to Iran during the ongoing Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) meeting in Doha on Thursday.
Iran seeks regional solidarity against Israeli crimes
During his address to reportedly over a million worshippers in Tehran on Friday, Khamenei also asked for joint regional actions against Israeli crimes in the region, claiming, “the enemy of the Iranian nation is the same enemy of the Palestinian, Lebanese, Iraqi, Egyptian, Syrian and Yemeni nations.”
A similar agenda was pursued by Iranian President Pezeshkian during his visit to Qatar during the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Summit. He held several bilateral meetings with the heads of states from the Gulf and wider Asia region on the sidelines of the summit.
The ACD was formed in 2002 as a multinational platform to enhance cooperation among all the countries and other organizations on the continent. It held its first summit in 2012. The Doha meeting was ACD’s third summit.
The Iranian president emphasized that it is necessary to strengthen ACD-like forums for greater regional cooperation and also to prevent all kinds of external interventions. He underlined that greater regional cooperation on crucial issues will end the possibility of atrocities, which states such as Israel commit against the people.
“This regime is killing women and children and bombing hospitals, schools, and civilian targets under the pretext of self-defense, and such events are shameful in the shadow of the silence of the international community,” Pezeshkian emphasized during his meeting with Thailand’s prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
Pezeshkian also met the Emir and Prime Minister of Qatar before leaving for Iran on Thursday. Summarizing the agenda of Pezeshkian’s visit to Qatar, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed that for Iran, a “strong region is our goal [for which] dialogue is a must.”