Khamenei-linked revenge
With the intensification of the war between the US and Iran, another controversy has come up and once again attracted the attention of the whole international community. This time the issue of discussion is the infographic published in an Iranian news source, where images of American, Israeli and even some European political figures can be found. The paper connects the infographic with the assassination of the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei and describes it as a plan for revenge.
Nevertheless, there hasn’t been any evidence that the Iranian government or some other official source financed this information. For several weeks military and political tensions between the US and Iran in the Middle East have been growing. Meanwhile, on February 28, the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei was killed by the order of US and Israel. On this basis, the new Supreme Leader, Mostafa Khamenei issued his first public message after becoming a new leader and promising revenge.
He then went on to warn various media outlets that people listed there should not expect a comfortable death in bed. But the public message by Mostafa Khamenei was silent about the names. Shortly afterwards, an infographic was published by the Tehran Metropolitan Municipality’s Summit in its online edition with images of 13 foreign leaders. Among those listed in the infographic are President of the United States of America, Donald Trump; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; British Prime Minister Keir Starmer; US Secretary of State Marco Rubio; US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth; President of France Emmanuel Macron; Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni; and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Iran has charged that European nations have condemned the attacks on their territory, but have allowed US troops to use their airspaces to conduct attacks on the other hand. It appears that Mostafa Khamenei hasn’t come out in public since the start of the war and he has also been injured during the same attack where his father died. However, there is another side to it. So far, there hasn’t been any indication that the supreme office of the Iranian government and/or any security organization accepts the list as an official statement. The major issue is whether it is an official statement from the Iranian government or from a media group. There hasn’t been any official statement in this regard.
The news published in Iran has revealed a list of American, Israeli and European officials who are to be attacked in retaliation for the murder of Iran’s Supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Mostafa Khamenei, son of the deceased Ali Khamenei, who died in a US-Israeli airstrike on February 28, announced that he will take revenge for his father’s death. In his first message following the death of Khamenei, the son said that revenge is what our nation wants, and that it will certainly happen. Those mentioned in the list say that they cannot hope to die peacefully in their beds.
According to the news, which appeared in the Tehran Metropolitan News on Saturday night, an infographic was published by the newspaper in its online version, which had the statement of Mustafa alongside pictures of 13 foreign leaders. Iran has been showing displeasure towards certain European nations because of their permitting American military planes to fly through its airspace and because of not being publicly opposed to the attack. Meanwhile, so far Mostafa Khamenei has not appeared publicly.
Nothing about his health condition has been released officially. Therefore, today the world community’s interest is concentrated on the effect it may have rather than on a list of things. In case if such statements are backed up by the government, then it would mean one more complication in terms of security in the Middle East. Still, the world community is hoping for the better and no escalation in the tension levels.
Various international institutions like the United Nations have been calling all sides to be careful, to conduct a diplomatic dialogue, and avoid further violence. In fact, war gives nothing permanently to anybody but only political and military rivalry with revengeful goals can cause the rise of tension. However, the permanent solution can be achieved only through dialogues and diplomacy.