Leader of the Islamic Revolution: Revenge is the Mandate of Our Nation
Tehran - BORNA - The full text of the message issued by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution is as follows:
In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
"Peace be upon you, O Avenger of God, and the son of His avenger, the one who was wrongfully slain. Peace be upon you, your grandfather, your father, your mother, your brother, and the infallible ones from your progeny."
Peace be upon the Imam whose life-giving call to rise extended a massive, resonant echo of the Prophetic Mission deep into the far reaches of history—an awakening from which the Islamic Revolution of Iran emerged. This was a revolution that was fundamentally Husayni in nature, built and nurtured upon the slogans and creed of Imam Husayn (AS). The martyred Leader of Iran was raised upon this very same creed. He was Husayni; he thought as a Husayni, moved as a Husayni, waged jihad and resisted as a Husayni, lived as a Husayni, and ultimately offered his blood in the path of the school of Husayn, attaining martyrdom.
Among the followers of Husayn are those who, when their blood is shed oppressively for his cause, awaken the Islamic Ummah, binding that moment to Ashura and that place to Karbala. Today, that same Husayni fervor has breathed a new awakening into our nation, bestowing a fresh luster upon the school of the great Khomeini and the martyred Khamenei. This is the life-giving uproar that echoes the voice of Imam Husayn’s oppression and his call of "Is there any helper to help me?" across Iran, and subsequently throughout Iraq and other nations, sending tremors through the foundations of falsehood. On this occasion, it is only fitting to express my heartfelt appreciation for the astonishing, enemy-shattering, and historic turnout of tens of millions of people across the cities and villages of Iran and Iraq—most notably in Tehran, Qom, Najaf, Karbala, and Mashhad.
Our nation seeks retribution for Husayn. For years, this great nation sacrificed its children in the path of Husayn and in the war against his enemies and his creed. Today, it stands as the seeker of retribution for him and for the Husaynis of our time.
Now, I address our martyred leader: O oppressed martyr! O proud, oppressed soul! O righteous servant of God! As we bid farewell to your body with tearful eyes and broken hearts, we pledge to safeguard your school of thought. We vow to steadfastly walk the straight path you charted, undeterred by hardships, and like you, we pin our hearts to divine tidings and promises.
We pledge to exact revenge for your pure blood and the blood of all the martyrs of these two wars from their criminal and disgraced killers. This revenge is the mandate of our nation, and it shall definitively be carried out. These criminals, whose names are fully documented from the top to the bottom of the ladder, will take their dream of a peaceful death in bed to their graves. They must know that this mission does not depend on my person or any other official. Whether we are present or not, this will be fulfilled, and soon, free individuals across the world will each execute a part of this divine mission.
O martyred father of the Ummah, may drinking the nectar of martyrdom—which you longed for your entire life—be sweet to you. Congratulations on donning the mantle of martyrdom with a body bearing the marks of your mother, the pure Zahra (SA), and your grandfathers, Abu Abdillah al-Husayn (AS) and Ababil-Fadl al-Abbas (AS). And to you, his oppressed companions, who were caught by surprise and martyred in the enemy's assault: how fortunate you are to now be the guests of that Master whose kindness and grace you undoubtedly felt many times. That Master, who is the gate of divine mercy for all and especially for the people of this land, is now your host, and his secure sanctuary has become your home.
And to you, O sublime Master! O noble one! O Gentle Imam! Ya Aba al-Hasan, al-Rida al-Murtada—may the highest blessings of God be upon you. Today, the wounded body of a servant among the servants of your threshold and the pure progeny, after years of continuous effort and unceasing jihad, alongside the bodies of the martyrs from his family—each reminiscent of a martyr on the plain of Karbala—comes to rest in this holy soil. They await that day when, by divine decree, the world-illuminating sun, Hazrat Baqiyatullah (Imam Mahdi, may God hasten his reappearance), shall emerge from behind the clouds of occultation to shine the light of divine mercy upon the inhabitants of the earth. On that day, which we hope arrives very soon, stars from among the truthful, the martyrs, and the saints will accompany him, and we pray that our martyred Leader will be among them, once again demonstrating radiant and pure scenes of jihad and loyalty to the primordial covenant. Perhaps these companions will accompany him on that day as well.
O Gentle Master! We entrust our leader, who spent everything he had in your path, along with his martyred companions, to your grace and benevolence, so that just as they benefited from your favor during their earthly life, they may enjoy it henceforth in a much higher and grander measure.
In closing, we once again offer our condolences to our Master, Hazrat Baqiyatullah (may God hasten his reappearance), and we humbly beseech that noble and kind Master to direct his pure prayers toward the martyred Leader of Iran, his martyred companions, and all the martyrs. We pray to the Almighty Lord for the highest stations for all the martyrs, patience and divine rewards for their families, and a definitive, imminent victory for the oppressed nation of Iran, God willing.
Seyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei
July 8, 2026 (18 Tir 1405)
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