Leader: Al-Aqsa Storm put Israeli regime on path to destruction

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says Palestine is the first and foremost issue of the Muslim world.

The Leader made the remarks in an address to a huge crowd of people gathering at the mausoleum of founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini in southern Tehran on Monday to mark the 35th anniversary of the late Imam's passing.

Ayatollah Khamenei said Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against Israel was carried out at the right time and put the Zionist regime on a path that will lead to its destruction and elimination.

During Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, the Palestinians pushed the enemy to a corner where it had no way to escape, he noted.

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm on October 7, 2023, penetrating deep into the territories occupied by the Israeli regime, by carrying out large-scale air, land, and sea strikes.

The group said the operation was a reaction to the recurring desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied al-Quds as well as intensified Israeli atrocities against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

‘Palestinians foil US plot to change equations’

Ayatollah Khamenei further stated that Imam Khomeini emphasized that the people of Palestine themselves would have to restore their own rights and force the Israeli regime to retreat.

The Leader noted that everything that the late Imam predicted regarding the issue of Palestine has come true.

He said Imam Khomeini believed that the people of Palestine should not trust the so-called peace talks, play an active role and restore their rights to achieve a final victory in the face of the Israeli enemy.

The late Imam also urged all nations, particularly Muslims, to support the Palestinian people to help them defeat the Zionist regime, Ayatollah Khamenei added.

“These big developments are being realized now,” he emphasized.

“Although the US and many Western countries continue to support this regime, they also know that there is no way out for the occupying regime,” Ayatollah he stated.

The Leader warned that the US, elements of the global Zionism and some regional states have hatched a comprehensive plan to change relations and equations in the region.

They sought to establish links between the Israeli regime and some countries in the region in an attempt to prepare the ground for the Tel Aviv regime’s dominance over the political and economic developments in the West Asia region and the entire Muslim world, he explained.

They were very close to implement the ominous plot but the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Storm thwarted all schemes of the US, Zionism and their stooges, Ayatollah Khamenei said.

He emphasized that the incidents in Palestine over the past eight months destroyed hope for any revival of the plot.

He added that the unprecedented crimes and boundless cruelty of the Israeli regime and the American government’s support for such atrocities were nervous reactions to failure of the international conspiracy to dominate the Zionist regime in the region.

The Leader pointed to the US inaction in the face of consensus among world nations and emphasized that Washington will have no option but to end its support for the Zionist regime sooner or later.

Western analysts believe that Israel has suffered a heavy blow from the resistance groups during Operation Al-Aqsa Storm and that the regime will not be able to recover from it, he emphasized.

He said Palestine has turned into the number one issue of the world as students in American universities are chanting slogans to express their support for Palestine.

‘Martyrs of Service’

Elsewhere in his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the martyrdom of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and six of their companions in a helicopter crash last month and said they are “martyrs of service” as they lost their lives while serving the people.

He described “dear” President Raeisi as a hard-working and honest man who made his utmost efforts to serve the Iranian nation.

He also hailed Amir-Abdollahian as a skilled and intelligent negotiator who adhered to the principles of the Islamic Republic.

Ayatollah Khamenei noted that the passing of President Raeisi and his entourage was a great loss and stated that Iranians created an epic by taking part in their funeral ceremonies.

Despite the president’s demise, Iranian authorities managed to maintain the country’s full tranquility and security, the Leader added.

Raeisi, Amir-Abdollahian and six others died on May 19, when their helicopter crashed in foggy weather in the mountains near the northwestern border with Azerbaijan. Their bodies were found the following day after a massive search operation.

Ayatollah Khamenei also pointed to the June 28 presidential election in Iran, organized after President Raeisi’s death, and said the “epic of election” will complete the epic of saying farewell to the martyrs.

The Leader, however, warned that the “election scene is the scene of dignity and epic and not a [field] of struggle to gain power.”

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