Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday defended Tehran's recent strikes on Israel as "legal and legitimate".
He added it was the minimum punishment for Israel's "crimes". "Iran will not procrastinate nor act hastily to carry out its duty" in confronting Israel, said Khamenei.
After Israel's ground incursion in Lebanon and targeted strikes in Beirut killing Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, Iran launched a barrage of missiles against Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
Iran had said that the retaliatory strikes were for Nasrallah's killing in Beirut and the assassination of Hamas' chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July. Though Israel has not claimed responsibility for Haniyeh's killing, Iran blames Tel Aviv's role behind the strike.
While addressing the gathering during a rare Friday sermon, Khamenei said Iran's enemy is the same as the enemy of a Palestinian state, Lebanon and other Muslim nations.
"The Palestinian people have a lawful right to defend themselves. To stand up to those criminals-the occupation forces. There is not a single court or international organisation that can blame the Palestinian people for simply defending their homeland," said Khamenei.
Muslim nations have a common enemy and all should strap the belt of defence from Afghanistan to Yemen, from Iran to Gaza and Lebanon, he added.
He also alleged that the US and its allies were preserving the security of Israel to make it an energy exporting gate from the region to the West.
Israel is pretending to win through assassinations and civilian killings. It will never be victorious over Hezbollah and Hamas, Khamenei said. He also vowed the resistance in the region would not back down.
To the fighters in Lebanon and the Palestinians, Khamenei said the bloodshed should not weaken your strength.
"What has accumulated from Israel's recent behaviour is increasing anger and strengthening resistance motives," he added.
Yet again Khamenei defended the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel as a “legitimate act”. Friday's public sermon was Khamenei's first in the last five years.
Meanwhile, Israel's attack on Lebanon continued on Friday. Israel had conducted 11 consecutive strikes on the militant group's stronghold in Beirut, targeting Hashem Safieddine--the most likely person to replace Hassan Nasrallah.