Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has again praised Islamic groups for their conflict with Israel.
“An army that claims to be one of the strongest in the world has failed at home,” Khamenei told thousands of supporters in Tehran on Monday.
The conflict in Gaza has set the “Zionist regime on a path that will only end in decline and destruction,” he added.
Khamenei made the comments during a speech marking the 35th anniversary of the death of Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The speech was delivered at Khomeini’s mausoleum in the south of the capital.
In addition, Iran’s acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri visited Lebanon.
His predecessor Hossein Amirabdollahian, who died in a helicopter crash in May along with President Ebrahim Raisi, made several trips to Beirut during the current conflict to meet with leaders of the pro-Iranian militia Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Iran has provided financial and diplomatic support to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which killed 1,200 people and captured 250 hostages in the devastating October 7 attacks in Israel.
Israel responded with a continued invasion of Gaza, which has sparked international outrage due to the enormous humanitarian toll. The Hamas-run health authority in Gaza says more than 36,400 people have been killed in the Israeli operation.
Israel and Iran have been at odds since the 1979 revolution in Tehran brought the current Islamic regime to power.
The two countries have repeatedly come close to war, with both sides launching drone and missile attacks in May.
