2020 January Friday Prayer, Tehran

Tehran's Friday Prayer on 17 January 2020, was led by Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran at Grand Mosalla mosque following times of domestic and international tumultuous, including the US assassination of general Qasem Soleimani, missile attacks on US military bases in Iraq and the accidental downing of an airliner.[1][2][3]

It was the first Friday sermon in eight years which was addressed by him as "Tehran faces pressure at home and abroad".[1] In 2012, He attended Friday Prayer for the last time while "he threatened Israel" during the Arab Spring uprisings in the region.[4][3] According to Aljazeera, Thousands of worshippers attended Mosalla placed in central Tehran to listen to Khamenei's address.[1]

There was a wide coverage of Khamenei's rare public sermon by notable Western news agencies.[5]

Sermon

In a rare sermon lectured by Ali Khamenei at Friday prayers in Tehran, Donald Trump was described as a “clown” who "pretended to support the Iranian people but would push a poisonous dagger into their backs". He declared that the mass public gatherings at funeral processions of Qassem Suleimaniwas the sign of "the deep support of the people for the Islamic Republic".[2] The United States was called an “arrogant power” by him. He said that "God’s backing had allowed his country to “slap the face” of the United States".[3] The missile strikes on the US bases in Iraq were named “day of God,” (a specific definition in Quran) by Khamenei.[6]

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) which mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane, was protected by Ali Khamenei in the Friday sermon. He said that drowning was a "bitter" tragedy and additionally declared that "Iran's enemies" used the crash and the military's admission to "weaken" the IRGC.[1]

The second part of the sermon was presented in Arabic to declare that "forcing the US to withdraw from the Middle East" could be the true revenge.[2]

Reaction

While Khamenei was giving his lecture, the US reported that 11 of its troops had been wounded in Iranian missile strikes on two US bases in Iraq on 8 January. It was in contradiction with US previous reports mentioning no injuries in the result of attacks.[2]

US President Donald Trump tweeted that "He should be very careful with his words" in responding to the sermon on Friday evening.[1][7]

DW wrote that The attendance of the supreme leader at Friday prayers illustrated that Iran is "on the brink of war with the US".[4]

According to Aljazeera, Khamenei described the European states involved in the nuclear deal as "a steel hand in a velvet glove" to turn in Iran's approach and deals with those three European countries.[1]

Reference
  1. "Iran's Khamenei defends Revolutionary Guard in rare Friday sermon". Aljazeera. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  2. "Iran's supreme leader calls Trump 'clown' in rare Friday sermon". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  3. Fassihi, Farnaz; Hubbard, Ben. "Iran's Supreme Leader Rebukes U.S. in Rare Friday Sermon". NYT. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  4. "Khamenei delivers rare Friday sermon amid unrest in Iran". DW. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  5. Lipin, Michael; Jedinia, Mehdi. "Iran's State Media Distort Western News Coverage of Rare Khamenei Sermon". voanews. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  6. Al-Monitor Staff. "Khamenei delivers Friday sermon after 8-year absence". Al-monitor. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  7. "Trump: Khamenei must be very careful with his words!". iranintl. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
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