Worshippers were seen greeting and cheering at a mosque in Tehran during a mourning ceremony held to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein on the ninth day of Muharram.
A handout photo, distributed by the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on July 5, 2025, captures him (right) waving to attendees. The image was taken during a Muharram mourning ceremony held in Tehran, commemorating the ninth day of the holy month.
Tehran: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday made his first public appearance since the outbreak of his country’s recent 12-day war with Israel, taking part in a religious ceremony in Tehran, state media reported.
The 86-year-old leader was seen in a state TV broadcast greeting worshippers and receiving cheers at a Tehran mosque during a mourning ceremony on the ninth day of Muharram, commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussein.
Dressed in black, the 86-year-old Khamenei presided over a fervent crowd, their fists in the air, as they chanted a loyal affirmation: “The blood in our veins for our leader!”
State TV said the clip was filmed at central Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Mosque, named for the founder of the Islamic republic.
Khamenei, in power since 1989, spoke last week in a pre-recorded video, but had not been seen in public since before Israel initiated the conflict with a wave of surprise air strikes on June 13.
He was last seen publicly two days before, when he held a meeting with members of parliament.
The conflict has taken a devastating toll on both sides.
Following a decades-long shadow war, Israel launched its bombing campaign against Iran, with the stated goal of hindering Iran’s nuclear weapons program—an objective Tehran has always refuted. Iranian judicial sources reported more than 900 fatalities in Iran from these strikes. Conversely, official figures indicate that retaliatory Iranian missile attacks on Israeli cities claimed the lives of at least 28 individuals.
