A handout photo made available by the office of the Supreme Leader of Iran shows Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaking to the crowd after the Eid al-Fitr prayers in Tehran, Iran, in 2019. File Photo by Iran Supreme Leader Office/EPA-EFE
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was seen in public over the weekend for the first time since Israel began its war on Iran on June 13.
The Iranian leader appeared Saturday at the Hosseiniyeh of Imam Khomeini, a mosque in Tehran named after the founder of the Islamic Republic, to lead the commemoration on the eve of Ashura, which marks the anniversary of the death of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Husayn ibn Ali.
Khamenei, the longest-ruling leader in the Middle East, did not deliver any remarks during the event, Press TV reported, but did call over prominent eulogist Mahmoud Karimi and whisper something in his ear.
Throughout the brief war, Khamenei reportedly spent his time in a bunker and delivered three televised addresses to the country.
“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there. We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least for now,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform during the brief conflict.
It was later confirmed by CBS News that Israel had the opportunity to assassinate Khamenei but Trump had opposed the plan.
Khamenei’s appearance in Tehran was praised by senior Iranian authorities and political figures on social media, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi — who is in Brazil for the annual BRICS summit.
Separately, Aragachi published remarks he delivered to the summit in which he emphasized Iran’s position on the question of Palestine. Instead of a two-state solution that would establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel, Aragachi called for the establishment of a new democratic state that would encompass Israel and Palestine.
“We all know that as long as the Palestinian issue is not resolved in a just manner, their right to self-determination is not guaranteed, and the crimes of the Zionist regime against the Palestinians are not stopped, insecurity and tension will not end in our region, and peace and stability will not be established,” Aragachi said.
He said that talks for a two-state solution, supported by the United Nations and the former administration of President Joe Biden, “has not reached anywhere” and said that the Israeli government is the biggest impediment to the creation of a Palestinian state.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran considers a just solution for Palestine to be a referendum with the participation of all the original inhabitants of Palestine, including Jews, Christians, and Muslims,” Aragachi said.
“This is not an unrealistic or out-of-reach solution, just as the apartheid regime in South Africa was stabilized through a referendum and democracy, and not by dividing South Africa into two parts, white and black.”
Aragachi said that resolving the Palestinian problem is the primary issue keeping the region from peace and that Iran hopes to see the formation of a single democratic state in which Jews, Muslims and Christians live together in peace.
