Iran's Supreme Leader pledges revenge for slain father and predecessor

• Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei vowed to avenge his slain father and predecessor during funeral ceremonies.
• He described revenge as "the demand of the nation" and insisted it "must certainly" happen.
• The father was killed in US-Israeli airstrikes on February 28, with Khamenei condemning the attackers as "criminal and disgraced killers."

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said on July 11 that avenging his slain predecessor and father was “the demand of the nation” and “must certainly” take place, according to a written message released on his Telegram account.

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 Feb 28.

“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. REUTERS