Ayatollah Khamenei says struggles of Hezbollah, Hamas leaders changed fate of region

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in a meeting with organizers of the Congress of 15,000 Martyrs of the southern Iranian Fars Province on Wednesday.

The Leader described the events in the region and the steadfastness and efforts of the resistance as factors that have changed the fate and history of the region.

He noted that the Israeli regime had clearly failed to destroy the resistance despite the massacre of more than 50,000 innocent people, describing this as a “great defeat for the Zionist regime”.

Yet, Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that the greater defeat lies in the disgrace of Western culture, civilization, and politicians.

“In the confrontation between the resistance front and the front of evil, victory belongs to the resistance,” he emphasized.

The Leader described the current developments in the region and the events in the besieged Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and the occupied West Bank as historic.

“If figures like the martyr Sinwar had not emerged to fight until the last moment, or if great leaders like the martyr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had not combined jihad, wisdom, courage, and sacrifice and brought them to the field, the fate of the region would have been entirely different.”

The Israeli regime assassinated Hamas’ chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran back in July and Nasrallah in southern Lebanon last month. Furthermore, the occupying entity assassinated Haniyeh’s successor, Sinwar, in Gaza earlier this month.

“The Zionists thought they could easily eliminate the resistance groups. However, despite the martyrdom of more than 50,000 defenseless civilians and several prominent resistance leaders, and despite the enormous costs and US support…. the resistance front and the young fighters in Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and other resistance groups continue to fight with the same resolve and strength,” he stated.

“This is a significant defeat for the Zionist regime,” Ayatollah Khamenei added.

The Leader described the outcome of the Zionist region’s ongoing aggression in the region as a major defeat not only for the Zionist regime but also for Western civilization and culture.

“The massacre of 10,000 innocent children with two-ton bombs and various weapons, while Western politicians remained unmoved, has disgraced the hypocritical Western politicians and self-proclaimed advocates of human rights,” he continued.

“It has exposed the lack of credibility of Western civilization to the entire world, and this is their greatest defeat,” he noted. “Western politicians have been disgraced. Western politics has been disgraced and defeated—this is a major defeat.”

Condemning the West’s disregard for human life and suffering, Ayatollah Khamenei said the Western governments are sending taxpayers’ money to fund “the destruction of families, the martyrdom of 10,000 children, and the orphaning of thousands more.”

Since October 2023, the US-Israeli genocide across the besieged Gaza Strip has killed over 42,700 Palestinians and injured more than 100,000 others.