Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered his first public sermon in five years, asserting that Iran's missile strikes on Israel were justified and legal, and described Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel as "legitimate." Khamenei warned that Iran would strike "occupied Palestine" again if provoked and emphasized the country's right to self-defense in response to any Israeli aggression.

In his sermon at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla mosque, Khamenei also praised Hezbollah’s resistance against Israel, declaring that the Iran-backed group’s efforts would help to defeat common enemies. He mentioned Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah, whose photo was displayed prominently, despite Nasrallah being killed in an Israeli airstrike on the group’s Beirut headquarters on September 27. Khamenei honored Nasrallah as a martyr, stating that his influence would only grow posthumously.

Calling for unity among Muslim nations, Khamenei accused the U.S. of using Israel to control regional resources, describing the Zionist state as a “fake” entity that would eventually collapse without American support. His remarks came amid rising tensions in the Middle East, with fears of a broader conflict following Iran's missile attack on Israel earlier this week, part of the wider Israel-Hamas conflict that began in October 2023.