Iran's Supreme Leader Vows Revenge for War Dead as Conflict Rages On

In his first address as Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei vowed on Thursday, March 12, to avenge those killed in the war, including in a strike on a school. “Iran would obtain compensation from its enemy. I assure everyone that we will not abandon seeking revenge for the blood of your martyrs,” he said referring to the United States. If it refuses, Iran will take from its assets. When Ali Khamenei took over from the late Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, he did not immediately make a public speech in person; instead waiting until after a 40-day mourning period. However, Mojtaba Khamenei finds himself and the Iranian government he leads in perhaps its most-desperate fight since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He described the task of donning the mantle once held by his father and the first Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, “difficult.” “I had the honour of visiting his body after his martyrdom; what I saw was a mountain of firmness, and I was told that the fist of his healthy hand was clenched,” he said, “The difficulty of assuming the leadership after such a person… bridging this gap is only possible with the help of the Divine Truth and your assistance, the people.” His statement was read on state television by a news anchor. Khamenei did not appear on camera, and an Israeli assessment indicates he was wounded in the war’s opening salvo. He spoke about his other family members, including his wife and sister who were killed with his late father. He paid homage to the fallen soldiers and commanders killed in the 13 days of the ongoing war. “Besides my father, whose loss has become a public matter, my dear and faithful wife, in whom I had hopes, my self-sacrificing sister who dedicated herself to serving her parents and finally received her reward, along with her young child, and my other sister’s husband, who was a knowledgeable and noble person, joined the caravan of martyrs,” he said “My sincere thanks go to our brave fighters who… with their crushing blows, have blocked the enemy’s path and made them abandon the illusion of being able to dominate our dear homeland and possibly partition it,” he said. On the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, he said it should be used and that Iran’s attacks on Gulf Arab neighbours will continue. Iran’s unrelenting attacks on shipping traffic and energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf pushed oil back above USD 100 a barrel on Thursday, as American and Israeli strikes pounded the Islamic Republic with no sign of an end to the war in sight. Iran is trying to inflict enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel to halt their bombardment, which started the war on February 28. Iran’s president said its attacks would continue until Iran gets security guarantees against another assault, indicating that even a ceasefire or US declaration of victory might not halt the conflict. US President Donald Trump has meanwhile promised to “finish the job,” even though he claimed Iran is “virtually destroyed.”