Iran Institutionalizes Calls for Revenge Over Khamenei Assassination in Friday Prayers

The Iranian regime has turned the call for revenge over the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei into a permanent campaign. From now on, every Friday prayer across the country will include a call for vengeance and a pledge to continue supporting Tehran-backed armed groups in the Middle East. Abolhassan Fatemi, leader of Friday prayers in the city of Shahrekord, stated that "from now on, every Friday during prayers, we will raise the call for revenge and blood vengeance." He emphasized that "revenge against the oppressors must remain the top priority of the Islamic Republic's actions," according to the Iranian news agency ISNA.

Simultaneously, Ahmad Vahidi, a commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), declared that Khamenei's assassination would not weaken the network of armed groups supported by Iran, which Tehran refers to as the "Resistance Front." Vahidi warned that "the criminal leaders of America and all enemies of the Islamic Revolution and the Resistance Front should know that by assassinating this leader, they will never extinguish the light, weaken the will of the believing peoples, or lower the flag of resistance." He described Khamenei's blood as "a flowing spring of awakening, honor, strength, and unity for the Islamic nation," and asserted that the demand to punish those responsible for the assassination remains "an absolute, legitimate, and unforgettable demand."

These parallel messages from Iran's religious leadership and the IRGC indicate Tehran's effort to cement Khamenei's assassination as a unifying cause for the regime, its supporters, and the "Resistance Axis" organizations throughout the Middle East.