Ayatollah Khamenei made the statement in a message of condolences on Saturday over the martyrdom of Nasrallah, the longtime leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement, who was assassinated in a massive Israeli air attack in southern Beirut on Friday.
The Leader declared five days of national mourning following the martyrdom of the Hezbollah chief.
The Leader said the foundation that Nasrallah established in Lebanon and provided direction to other centers of power will not disappear with his loss but will be strengthened by blood of the Hezbollah chief and other martyrs of the Beirut attack.
Ayatollah Khamenei described Nasrallah as a great fighter, the bearer of the resistance in the region, a religious scholar and a wise political leader who was martyred in the last night events in Lebanon.
The Leader stated that Nasrallah was martyred as he was planning to defend the defenseless people living in the Dahiyeh area in the south of Lebanon’s capital Beirut and their destroyed homes.
Nasrallah fought for decades to defend the oppressed Palestinian people, their occupied cities and villages, destroyed homes, and their slaughtered loved ones, Ayatollah Khamenei added.
“The blessing of martyrdom was his undeniable right after all these efforts,” the Leader emphasized.
“The Muslim world lost a great personality, the resistance front lost a prominent flag-bearer, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah lost a unique leader,” Ayatollah Khamenei added.
The Leader, however emphasized, the blessings of decades of Nasrallah’s prudence and jihad will never be lost.
Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that the evil Zionist regime failed to achieve victory in this incident.
The Leader stated the Hezbollah chief “was not just a person, but rather he was a path and a school of thought and this path will continue”.
