A massive rally was held in Tehran on Monday in support of Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in the opening attacks of the US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic.
The massive turnout for the younger Khamenei, who also lost his wife, mother, and sister in the Israeli airstrike, is the latest sign that the Iranian government is not close to collapsing despite the continued US-Israeli bombing campaign.
According to Iranian state media, similar rallies were held in other major Iranian cities, including Shiraz, Kerman, Ahvaz, Tabriz, Hamedan, and Ardabil.
“We lost our beloved Leader while he was leading our caravan against the arrogant powers of the world. The wound is too deep, but now there is reassurance in the form of the new Leader, his worthy successor, who will take the mission forward,” a participant in the Tehran rally told PressTV.
The appointment of Khamenei to replace his father was seen as a defiant move in the face of the continued US-Israeli assault, as President Trump has said he would not be a suitable leader. “They are wasting their time. Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment,” Trump said last week.
The US should have expected the bombing campaign not to collapse the government, as a US intelligence report completed about a week before the US and Israel launched the war on February 28, said it was “unlikely” that a large-scale assault on the country would result in regime change.
