This Friday, January 17, 2020, the political-religious ceremony of the Friday Prayers in Tehran was led by Imam Khamenei - the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution - for the first time after 8 years.

In his sermons, Imam Khamenei addressed the nation regarding the two past eventful weeks and opened his speech by stating, “There is a very meaningful verse, like the other verses of the Qur’an, in Chapter Ibrahim. My talk today is about this verse and the verses following it. In this verse, Prophet Moses is ordered to remind them of the ‘Days of Allah,’ or by means of the ‘Days of Allah’ remind them of God, God’s religion and the Day of Judgment. Then, Almighty God announces that if people are thankful, blessings will increase day by day. However, if they are not thankful for God’s blessings, then divine punishment will come upon them. He then continues that the Days of Allah are signs and proofs for those who have two characteristics, patience and gratefulness. Patience refers to someone who is persevering and patient. Gratefulness refers to knowing the divine blessings and thanking God for them.”

The Supreme Leader referred to the past two weeks in Iranian affairs as examples of the same verse and asserted, “The last two weeks that we have just passed through were full of extraordinary events: bitter events, sweet events, and events from which the Iranian nation should take lessons. What does the ‘Day of Allah’ mean? That is the day when the hand of the power of God is seen by human beings in events. That is when tens of millions in Iran and hundreds of thousands in Iraq and some other countries took to the streets to pay homage to the Commander of the Quds Force, forming the largest farewell (funeral) in the world. This was an example of a Day of Allah. What happened was not brought about by any other agent other than the power of God.”

Imam Khamenei praised the day when the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responded to the criminal assassination of General Qasem Soleimani by attacking a United States military base in Iraq as a Day of Allah and asserted, “We, the Iranian nation, witnessed the two days - when millions took part in the funeral of the martyrs and when the missiles hit the U.S. base - as Days of Allah. These days are turning points in history. They are days, which build history and not typical days.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution praised the Iranian nation’scourage in powerfully standing up to U.S. aggression and stressed, “That a nation has the power and spirit to slap an arrogant, aggressive global power is a sign of God’s power. Therefore, that day too is a Day of Allah.”
His Eminence added, “These days pass by; however, their impact on the lives of people and on the nations’ spirit, attitude and path remains. The influence of these days are lasting and at times eternal.”

Imam Khamenei mentioned the miraculous, massive turnout in support of the Martyred IRGC Commander, General Qasem Soleimani and said, “We must identify the material and spiritual dimensions of this phenomenon. After forty-one years since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, which power has motivated this extraordinary, large crowd? Who roused the tears, love and passion? What could manifest such a miracle other than the power of God?”

The Supreme Leader warned against ignoring Divine assistance in such incidents and stated, “Those who cannot see the power of God in these events and engage in material analyses stay behind. One should see the power of God. The spiritual and very important aspect of this event is that the Almighty God does this. When the Almighty God creates such a move in a nation, one feels that God's will is to make that nation victorious.”

Imam Khamenei asserted that the massive turnout for the funeral of the assassinated General is a declaration of adherence to the path set by Imam Khomeini and held, “This shows that if this nation moves on this path, it will be victorious. It also reflects the spirituality and essence of this nation: their love, loyalty, perseverance and great allegiance to the path of Imam Khomeini. The people manifested their allegiance to Imam Khomeini’s path with their presence. An allegiance of this magnitude of the people to Imam (Khomeini) was extraordinary, more than thirty years after the departure of the honorable Imam. This is how Imam Khomeini is alive.”

His Eminence stressed that the martyrdom of General Soleimani once again disgraced the United States for having assassinated the champion of the fight against terrorism and declared, “This was about the funeral. The martyrdom itself is a sign of Divine power. It brought about disgrace for the U.S. government, the shameless government of the United States of America. They martyred the most prominent and most powerful commander in the fight against terrorism. Martyr Soleimani was literally the most powerful commander in the fight against terrorism in the region. He is well-known for this. Besides him, who had the power to achieve what he did?”

The Supreme Leader further elaborated, “Martyr Soleimani would enter an area completely surrounded by the enemy by helicopter. There would be good, young men in the area who were alone, without a commander. When they would see Hajj Qasem Soleimani, they would gain spirit and motivation, and they would make the enemy retreat. Who can do such things?”

His Eminence described the U.S. assassination of the Quds Force Commander as cowardly and added, “(He was) the anti-terrorist Commander of the whole region. They assassinated the strongest and most prominent Commander. They did not confront him in the battlefield. They assassinated him thievishly and cowardly. The U.S. government assassinated him. They themselves have confessed that this has disgraced them.”

Slamming the mainstream media dominated by the Zionists for their trying in vain to vilify the Iranian champion in the fight against ISIS and terrorism, Imam Khamenei articulated, “A few days before and after this incident, the Zionist news empire around the world tried to accuse our dear, honored Commander of being a terrorist! The U.S. president himself, his Secretary of State, and Zionist news agencies all over the world repeated the idea that he was a terrorist! Yet, despite the attempts of the Zionist news empire, the Almighty God changed things in a way to give results exactly opposite to what they wanted. Not only here in Iran, but also in various countries, people saluted the soul of this great martyr and burned the flags of the Zionist regime and the U.S.”

The Supreme Leader referred to the rare confession of the United States in openly claiming responsibility for the criminal assassination of the Iranian Commander and stated, “Prior to this incident, it was the Zionist regime who assassinated people. They assassinated the Hamas leader and claimed responsibility for it. They assassinated the leader of Jihad and declared responsibility for it. They assassinated individuals and said they had done it. The Americans killed a lot of people in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. They killed as many people as they could, but they didn't confess that had done so. In this case, they confessed that they assassinated him (Martyr Soleimani). The U.S. President himself confessed. God Almighty made him confess. They admitted that they are terrorists. They said that they had assassinated him. This is an utter disgrace.”

Calling Iran’s retaliatory measure in targeting a U.S. military base in Iraq as another heavy blow to the concocted dignity and artificial superiority of the United States, Imam Khamenei maintained, “The IRGC's strong response also deserves thought and contemplation. This Day of Allah, the extraordinary funeral and martyrdom of the beloved martyr, is one side of the matter. The strong reaction and response of the IRGC on the other side is also worthy of consideration. It was a blow to the United States. Of course, it was an effective military strike. However, more important than a military strike, it was a serious blow to dignity, a blow to the dignity of the U.S. as a superpower.”

The Supreme Leader pointed to the many blows the U.S. has been receiving over the years while pursuing military intervention in the West Asian region and added, “The U.S. has been receiving blows in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan for many years, blows from the powerful Resistance. However, this case was more important than all the previous blows. It was a major blow to their dignity. It was a blow to the sense of awe for the U.S. This strike cannot be compensated for by anything. Now, they announce that they will intensify sanctions, but that cannot make up for the lost dignity of the U.S. The powerful response had this effect.”

Imam Khamenei described IRGC’s involvement in Palestine, Gaza and other parts of West Asia as a measure to counter enemies targeting Iran and stressed, “Yes, the combatants of the Quds Force go to Palestine, Gaza and other areas that need help, but they provide security for our own country. The enemy that the U.S. has equipped is not just targeting Iraq and Syria. It is ultimately targeting Iran, dear Iran.They created ISIS, not just for dominating Iraq. Their main and ultimate goal was Iran. They wanted to disrupt our security in our borders, our cities and our families in this way. They were stopped with the help of the faithful and dear youth who left and made this great effort.”

His Eminence condemned U.S. officials who hypocritically claim to stand by the people of Iran and added, “The nation favors resistance; the nation favors resisting against the aggression of enemies. The American clowns who falsely and shamelessly say that they are standing by the Iranian people should see people as they actually are. Do those few hundreds of people who disrespect the posters of our honored martyr represent the Iranians? Or, does this huge crowd of millions who came to the streets represent the Iranian nation?”

The Supreme Leader also stated, “Of course, the spokesmen of the villainous U.S. government repeatedly say that they are standing by the Iranian people. They lie. If you are standing by the Iranian people, it is only to stab them in the heart with your venomous daggers. Of course, you have so far failed to do so, and you will certainly continue to fail to do so.”

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to the tragic incident of a plane crash last week saying, “The plane crash was a bitter accident that truly broke our hearts. The loss of the dear, young people and those who had come here from other countries was a truly heartrending event.”
Imam Khamenei pointed out that the enemies of Iran secretly cheered the tragedy as they misused it as an opportunity to overshadow great achievements by Iran and stated, “As much as we were grieved by the tragedy of the plane crash, enemies were happy about it. They tried to question the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic and use it to overshadow the great event. They were mistaken, ‘And they planned and Allah (also) planned, and Allah is the best of planners.’ [Qur’an 3:54]”

The Supreme Leader blasted European governments for seeking to send Iran’s case to the Security Council, breaching their commitments as set by the Iran deal - the JCPOA and asserted, “Another action they did to overshadow this great event was what the three European states did. The vicious British government and the French and German governments threatened to send Iran's case to the Security Council. After the U.S. withdrew from the JCPOA, these governments were making nonsensical remarks. I said I didn’t trust them. After nearly a year, it has been proven that they are truly the footmen of the U.S.”

Imam Khamenei censured these European states for wishfully trying to bring the Iranian nation to its knees and held, “These abject countries - the UK, France and Germany - look forward to bringing the Iranian nation to its knees. The U.S. who was bigger than you, your master and your leader, was unable to bring the Iranian nation to its knees. You are not powerful enough to bring the Iranian nation to its knees.”

Imam Khamenei described the European signatories of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as terrorists dressed as gentlemen at the negotiating table by saying, “The so-called ‘gentlemen’ around the negotiating table are the same terrorists of the Baghdad airport. They are the same. The iron hand emerged from the velvet glove and revealed itself.”

Imam Khamenei urged the Iranian nation to work hard towards fortifying their economy, science and technology as well as military power and emphasized, “What is the Iranian nation's duty now? I sum it up in one statement. The dear Iranian nation should be determined to become stronger. The only way before the Iranian nation is becoming more powerful. Of course, power isn’t just military force. The country’s economy should be strengthened. An end should be put to reliance on oil. Scientific and technological growth should continue. The backing for all of these is the people’s presence.”

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution stated the following in the Arabic part of his sermon today, “The Iranian Army struck a counterattack, for now, devastating a U.S. base with its missiles and destroying the dignity and awe of the tyrannical, arrogant U.S. government. However, the main punishment (for the U.S.) will be expulsion from the region. The people of Iran, in tens of millions, manifested an unprecedented farewell (funeral) for the two great fighters for the cause of God. In many cities, the Iraqi people participated in the funeral for all of the martyrs in paying homage to them. In several other countries, people showed their sympathy with passionate turnouts too.”

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