Iran’s supreme leader warns missile attack on Israel ‘will be done again if necessary’
Iran’s supreme leader has claimed its missile attack on Israel was “fully legal and legitimate” – as he warned “it will be done in the future again if it becomes necessary”.
In a rare speech, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also described the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October as a “legitimate” act – and he urged Tehran’s allies to “double your efforts and capabilities” against a “common enemy”.
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Mr Khamenei had a rifle by his side as he gave his first address at Friday prayers in five years after Iran fired a barrage of at least 180 missiles at Israel on Tuesday night.
The strikes were in retaliation for a series of Israeli strikes on Lebanon which killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other members of the militant group’s top command.
Hezbollah is designated a terror group by the UK, the US and other Western nations.
Mr Khamenei praised the Iranian retaliation in his address on Friday, telling those gathered at the Mosalla mosque in Tehran: “The shining job by our armed forces two or three nights ago was fully legal and legitimate.”
“It will be done in the future again if it becomes necessary,” he added.
The 85-year-old’s hand occasionally grasped the barrel of a rifle that stood to his left, a custom that has been followed by Friday prayer leaders across the country for decades.
Iran’s supreme leader holds a weapon during his speech. Pic: WANA/Reuters
Iran said it hit most of its targets on Tuesday but there have been no reports of casualties and Israel claimed it intercepted many of the missiles.
The Iran attack was the latest escalation as fears have grown of an all-out war in the region since Hamas carried out an attack on Israel in October last year – killing around 1,200 people and taking a further 250 hostage.
Israel has responded by launching air and ground attacks in Gaza – with the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory saying so far more than 41,000 people have been killed. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and fighters.
In his 40-minute speech just days away from the anniversary of the Hamas attack, Mr Khamenei said the Palestinian militant group’s incursion was a “legitimate” action and that “every country has the right to defend itself from aggressors”.
A ceremony was held in Iran to commemorate killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Pic: WANA/Reuters
It is not the first time Mr Khamenei has praised the Hamas incursion, as shortly after the attack he said Israel’s “own actions are to blame for this disaster”.
In his speech on Friday, Iran’s supreme leader urged nations from “Afghanistan to Yemen and from Iran to Gaza and Yemen” to be ready to take action against Israel and praised those who had died doing so.
“Our resisting people in Lebanon and Palestine, you brave fighters, you loyal and patient people, these martyrdoms and the blood that was shed shouldn’t shake your determination but make you more persistent,” he said.
Reflecting on the Iranian strikes on Israel, Mr Khamenei told Tehran’s allies in region: “We’re defending ourselves but we’re also defending you against a common enemy that through violence and terror seeks to destroy our way of life.”
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Mr Khamenei also told Israel adversaries to “double your efforts and capabilities… and resist the aggressive enemy”.
A ceremony commemorating the death of Nasrallah was held before the supreme leader’s speech.
Most high-ranking Iranian officials, including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and top Revolutionary Guard generals, attended the ceremony.
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Mr Khamenei’s last appearance at Friday prayers was after the death of Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in 2020 in a US drone strike in Baghdad.
Also on Friday, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Lebanon’s capital Beirut, where he was expected to discuss with Lebanese officials the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
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Meanwhile, Israel carried out a series of massive air strikes in southern suburbs of Beirut overnight and another that cut off the main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, a crossing point for tens of thousands of people fleeing Israeli bombardment.
Israel launched a ground incursion into Lebanon on Tuesday and its forces have been clashing with Hezbollah militants in a narrow strip along the border.
Israel claims around 250 Hezbollah fighters have been killed since the ground operation began, while at least 10 Israeli soldiers have died in the action.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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