Iran's new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, declared on Saturday that avenging his father's death was "the demand of the nation" and "must certainly" take place, in his first public message since funeral ceremonies began for his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the US-Israeli strikes of February 28. The statement, released on his Telegram account and read on state television, came hours after President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Tehran over reported plots against his life.
"We pledge to avenge the blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs of these two wars from the criminal and disgraced killers," Khamenei's message read, adding that vengeance would not depend on his presence or that of other officials, and that "free people around the world" would carry out the mission.
Trump had written late Friday on Truth Social that a thousand missiles were "locked and loaded" and aimed at Iran, with thousands more ready to follow, should Tehran act on threats to assassinate him. He said orders had already been given for the US military to be prepared, for a period of one year subject to extension, to "completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran." The Wall Street Journal reported earlier in the week that Israel had shared intelligence with Washington about a fresh and specific Iranian plot against the president, though Trump later told a reporter that Israel "came up with nothing" and noted he has topped Iran's list of targets for years.
