Israel 'won‘t last long', warns Iran's supreme leader as he wields rifle in sermon hailing October 7 attack as 'legitimate act'
4 October 2024, 12:21 | Updated: 4 October 2024, 12:27
Iran's supreme leader has said the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel were a 'legitimate' act as he addressed Tehran worshipers in a rare sermon.
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Holding a rifle by his side for his first public sermon in five years, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed to the congregation at the Mosalla mosque on Friday that the attacks were justified because they were "logical and legal".
He said the onslaught was committed in self-defence against an oppressor and claimed the principle was recognised under international law.
Iran bombed Israel on Tuesday night with 180 ballistic missiles after the IDF moved ground troops into Lebanon to fight Hezbollah militants, an Iranian client group.
No Israelis were killed in the Iranian bombing barrage, but Israel has vowed that there will be "consequences".
Khamenei also sought to justify Iran's latest missile attack on Israel, claiming: "The move taken by our armed forces was the least punishment in the face of the crimes of the Zionist regime."
Iran fires rockets into Israel
He also referred to Israel as a "bloodthirsty... rabid dog" and said the country "will not last long".
"The brilliant action of our armed forces a couple of nights ago was completely legal and legitimate', he told the crowd.
Speaking in Arabic, Khamenei also praised Lebanese militant group Hezbollah's current conflict with Israel as a "vital service to the region".
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.
