Khamenei: Iran’s strikes at U.S. targets show ‘hand of God’

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gestures as he delivers Friday prayers sermon, in Tehran, Iran Jan. 17, 2020. OFFICIAL KHAMENEI WEBSITE/ REUTERS
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gestures as he delivers Friday prayers sermon, in Tehran, Iran Jan. 17, 2020. OFFICIAL KHAMENEI WEBSITE/ REUTERS

DUBAI – Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a Friday prayers sermon that Iran’s missile strikes on U.S. targets in Iraq showed it had divine support in delivering a “slap on the face” to a world power.

The sermon was delivered after Iran’s rulers faced days of often violent protests after the military admitted to mistakenly shooting down an airliner in the tense hours after the missile strikes, which were in turn launched in retaliation for the U.S. killing on Jan. 3 of a top Iranian commander, close to Khamenei.

“The fact that Iran has the power to give such a slap to a world power shows the hand of God,” Khamenei, saying the U.S. killing of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, showed Washington’s “terrorist nature”.

Vigils for the 176 victims swiftly turned into protests against Iran’s rulers. “Death to Khamenei” was chanted at protests and spray painted on walls of Tehran and other cities. Such public criticism can result in a jail term in Iran.(Reuters)

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