Iran vows it won't back down in rare appearance from supreme leader as Biden urges Israel against oil site strikes
4 October 2024, 23:33
Iran’s Supreme Leader warned his country will strike Israel again “if necessary” as he made a rare public appearance on Friday.
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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei held Friday prayers in Iran for the first time in five years as, brandishing a rifle, he claimed the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October was a "legitimate" act and called on his allies to unite against Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
It came as Joe Biden urged Israel not to strike Iran’s oil fields in response to Tuesday’s Iranian strike.
Speaking 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.
Speaking in Arabic, he urged nations from "Afghanistan to Yemen and from Iran to Gaza and Yemen" to unite against Israel.
Khamenei continued: "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.
"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."
The 85-year-old called on Iran’s allies to "double your efforts and capabilities... and resist the aggressive enemy".
It came as US President Joe Biden urged Israel against striking Iranian oil fields in a rare appearance at the White House briefing room.
Joe Biden has sanctions on Iran are “under consideration” after it launched a large-scale ballistic missile attack on Israel on Tuesday night.
Speaking at a news conference, the US President also said Israel has not concluded a response to the strike that involved more than 180 missiles.
Iran launched the attack after the IDF moved ground troops into Lebanon to fight Hezbollah militants, an Iranian client group.
After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran "will pay a heavy price” following Tuesday's missile launch, Biden said Israel has not yet decided how it will respond.
He said: "I'm assuming when they make their assessment, how they're going to respond, we will then have a discussion. (Israel) is not going to make a decision immediately.”
Biden added that he would think about "other alternatives" to "striking" Iranian oil fields if he were in Israel's shoes.
When asked what the US is doing to prevent an all-out war, He said: "There's a lot we are doing.
“The main thing we can do is try to rally the rest of the world and our allies into participating, like the French are, and Lebanon and other places, to tamp this down.”
He added that the US is considering imposing sanctions on Iran.
U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Friday the toll on civilians in Lebanon from Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah is “totally unacceptable”.
More than 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon as a result of the conflict in the past year, most of them in the past two weeks, according to the Lebanese government.
It has not broken down the overall figure to detail the numbers of civilians and Hezbollah fighters killed but has accused Israel of targeting civilians, pointing to the dozens of women and children killed.
Biden said while Israel has "every right to respond… the fact is that they have to be very much more careful about dealing with civilian casualties".
Iran fires rockets into Israel
Khamenei had declared a period of public mourning in Iran for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah after he was killed in an Israeli strike last Wednesday.
The Iranian leader - who was thought to be close with Nasrallah - said the Hezbollah chief's death was "not a small matter".
Khamenei last led a public Friday prayers in January 2020 after Iran fired missiles at a US military base in Iraq in retaliation for a strike that killed the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.
Hundreds of people in Tehran on Thursday were seen waving Hezbollah and Iran flags outside the former US embassy building in capital.
It comes as the G7 yesterday called for a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza, and called Iran's strikes on Israel a "serious threat to regional stability" in the Middle East.
The leaders of the G7 - comprised of the US, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Canada and Italy - said: "We unequivocally reiterate our commitment to the security of Israel.
"Iran’s seriously destabilizing actions throughout the Middle East through terrorist proxies and armed groups—including the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Hamas— as well as Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq, must stop.
"Yesterday we discussed coordinated efforts and actions to avoid escalation in the area."
They added in a statement that the "cycle of attacks and retaliation... "is in no one’s interest."
The G7 condemned the Iranian strikes on Wednesday and said they would "work jointly to promote a reduction in regional tensions".
The UK and allies continued to urge Israel and its adversaries to pull back from the brink of all-out war in the Middle East.
Israel is still considering how to retaliate to Iran's ballistic missile barrage earlier this week. Meanwhile Israel and Hezbollah continue to fight in Lebanon.
The IDF said it killed 15 Hezbollah militants on Thursday, after eight of its own soldiers were killed on Wednesday.
Israel has warned people living in Lebanon near the border with Israel to evacuate - including people living in the city of Nabatieh, which has a population of between 60,000 and 100,000.
