Crowds gather across Iran to pledge allegiance to new Supreme Leader
Crowds gather across Iran to pledge allegiance to new Supreme Leader
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Iranian state media has prominently reported rallies in the capital Tehran and elsewhere in support of the country’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
Video of rallies apparently attended by thousands of people was published by the semi-official Mehr news agency over the caption: “The roar of the people in various cities of the country pledging allegiance” to Khamenei.
One woman told the semi-official Tasnim news agency: “I sacrifice my grandchildren and children, all of them, for the (Islamic) Revolution.”
“They martyred our supreme leader to weaken our religion, but they didn’t know that would revive our religion,” another woman said, referring to the assassination of Khamenei’s father last week.
State media also circulated video showing regime supporters celebrating Khamenei’s rise in the central square in Isfahan – while smoke rose nearby.
Isfahan has come under attack several times over the past week.
The Education Ministry announced the cancellation of virtual classes Monday “to allow maximum participation of teachers and students in the pledge of allegiance ceremony with the Supreme Leader.”
Senior clerics have also offered their support to Khamenei.
Ayatollah Arafi, who had been one of the interim council running Iran over the past week, said the Iranian people must be “as proactive and diligent as they were during the era of the late Imam Khomeini” in supporting the new Supreme Leader.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was the Islamic republic’s first supreme leader.
His grandson, Seyed Hassan Khomeini, pledged support to Khamenei, saying that “what matters most is the protection of dear Iran and the Islamic Republic against the savage aggression of the Zionist regime and criminal America.”
A moderate former president of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, also offered congratulations to Khamenei, wishing him “success in leading the system, strengthening unity, cohesion and national power.”