"Pledge To Avenge His Blood": Mojtaba Khamenei On Father's Funeral

Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Saturday that the people of the Islamic Republic "demand" to take revenge for the assassination of his predecessor and father, Ali Khamenei. In a written message that was released on his social media, he pledged to "avenge the blood" of Khamenei and the "martyrs" killed in the war.

"We pledge to avenge the blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs of these two wars from the criminal and disgraced killers," Khamenei said in the message.

He said that the vengeance of Iran must "inevitably be carried out". He said that the matter does not depend on his personal existence or that of other officials.

"Whether we are present or not, it will come to pass," Khamenei wrote.

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He then expressed his gratitude towards the "enemy-shattering" turnout of people across Iran and Iraq.

"I extend my heartfelt gratitude for the incredible, enemy-shattering, and historic turnout of tens of millions of people across Iran and Iraq, particularly in Tehran, Qom, Najaf, Karbala, and Mashhad," he wrote.

Mourners take part in the funeral procession of Iran's former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at Imam Hussein Shrine in Karbala early on July 9, 2026
Photo Credit: AFP

The statement was released on the occasion of the funeral ceremonies of Ali Khamenei, which were held months after he was killed in the US-Israeli strikes on his office in Tehran on February 28.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was laid to rest at the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad late Thursday night as thousands of supporters gathered to pay their final farewells to the leader.

Trump's Instructions To Officials If Iran Assassinates Him

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has recently been speaking at length about Iran's plans to assassinate him. A day before Khamenei's statement, Trump said that he has been on Iran's "list" for a long time. 

"I've been on their list for a long time. That's what we're dealing with... The only thing is, I've left instructions, if anything happens, to just literally bomb them at levels that they've never seen before," he told the New York Post.

When asked about the new plot by Iran to assassinate him that Israel warned about, he said that there were no new plans. However, he claimed that Iran has wanted him dead for years.

Read | "1,000 Missiles Loaded": Trump Amid Iranians' Call For His Assassination

"No, no. Israel came up with nothing. No, no," he said. "I've been No. 1 [on Iran's kill list] for a long time, and it's the way life is, you know."

"I hope you'll miss me," he added.

After the NATO Summit in Ankara, Trump swapped his plans while travelling back to the United States. The White House later acknowledged it to be a security tactic for the president's safety.