Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said on Saturday that avenging his slain predecessor and father was “the demand of the nation” and “must certainly” take place, according to a written message published on his official Telegram account.“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 said in the message.Khamenei issued the message on the occasion of funeral ceremonies for his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, held months after he was killed in the US-Israeli airstrikes on February 28.Following Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral ceremonies in Iran and Iraq, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued an unequivocal call for revenge, describing the funeral processions as a demonstration of loyalty, national unity and resistance.In a statement thanking the public and officials involved in the funeral ceremonies, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said “blood vengeance” for Khamenei and others killed was a “certain, legitimate and unforgettable demand.”The IRGC added that holding the “agents, commanders and supporters” responsible for the killings to account would remain a lasting demand of the Islamic community.Throughout the week-long funeral processions for Khamenei, banners and posters carrying threats against US President Donald Trump, including calls for his killing and references to bounties, were prominently displayed, making the rhetoric of revenge one of the ceremony’s most visible themes.Mojtaba Khamenei was markedly absent from his father’s funeral. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli airstrikes on February 28, during the opening hours of the war. The 86-year-old had ruled Iran with near-absolute authority for almost 37 years before being targeted in the strikes that marked the start of the conflict.US President Donald Trump said the United States and Iran had agreed to continue negotiations despite this week’s escalation in hostilities, but declared that the ceasefire reached between the two sides last month was no longer in effect.Meanwhile, Washington on Friday intensified its demands for Iran to halt attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, where renewed tensions have disrupted maritime traffic and driven oil prices higher.
