Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said on Saturday that avenging his slain predecessor and father was “the will of the nation” and “must inevitably” take place “soon,” according to a written message attributed to him and released on his Telegram account.

Khamenei issued the message on the occasion of funeral ceremonies for his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, held months after he was killed in the US-Israeli airstrikes on February 28.

“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 was quoted as saying in the message.

The new supreme leader has not been seen or heard since assuming the role, with only written statements being issued in his name.

“This vengeance is the will of our nation and must inevitably be carried out,” the letter said. “These criminals — of whom we have a complete list from top to bottom — will take with them to their graves the wish for a peaceful death in bed.”

“This matter depends neither on my personal existence nor on that of other officials. Whether we are present or not, it will come to pass,” it said. “Soon individuals among the freedom-seekers across the world will each carry out part of this divine mission.”

Ali Khamenei was buried on Friday in Mashhad in northeast Iran after a week of mass funeral processions, rallies and mourning ceremonies that coincided with renewed conflict with the United States following weeks of truce in the four-month-old war.

The whereabouts of Mojtaba Khamenei,........

© The Times of Israel