Thousands of people have gathered at Tehran’s Grand Mosque ahead of a Friday prayer service led by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The service also includes a commemoration for slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last Friday.
Before the service, speakers recited prayers and poetry, with some referring to Nasrallah’s death as martyrdom, a revered concept in Islam. The crowd displayed several Lebanese and Palestinian flags in solidarity.
This event marks Khamenei's return to leading Friday prayers, with his last service held in January 2020 following Iran's retaliatory missile strike on a US army base in Iraq after the assassination of Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani by the US.
