Ayatollah Khamenei exemplified courage & wisdom

Tehran (qodnsa)- Iran held six-day funeral for martyred Leader across country and in Iraq. Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei was martyred following the launch of the U.S. and Zionist regime’s aggression on February 28. 

The aggression that also claimed the lives of senior officials and countless ordinary civilians, triggered Iran to respond by staging at least 100 decisive and successful retaliatory strikes against sensitive and strategic American and Israeli targets. The reprisal prompted the United States to announce a unilateral ceasefire on April 7.

Qods News Agency interviewed with a Canadian writer, senior journalist and political expert Eric Walberg.

Describing the characteristic of Ayatollah Khamenei, Walberg said: Ali Khamenei was born in Mashhad in 1939. He was a seyyed -- his family traces its lineage to Husayn ibn Ali, the son of Ali, the first Shia Imam, and the maternal grandson of Prophet Muhammad.

(Ayatollah) Khamenei became involved in opposition to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and was arrested six times before being exiled for three years by the Pahlavi government, he added.

(Ayatollah) Khamenei was a mainstream figure in the Iranian Revolution, and upon its success, held many posts in the newly established Islamic republic. In 1981, at the height of the Iraq invasion, he was the target of an attempted assassination by the Mujahideen al-Khalq, a leftwing group that supported Iraq and was outlawed as a treasonous organization after the 1979 revolution. This paralysed his right arm and made him a resolute supporter of the Islamic state, Walberg noted.  

(Ayatollah) Khamenei served as the third president of Iran from 1981 to 1989 during the Iran– Iraq War, when he also developed close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). After the death of Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, Khamenei was elected supreme leader by the Assembly of Experts. As Ayatollah, Khamenei exemplified courage and wisdom, shepherd Iran through intense efforts to overthrow the Islamic Republic.

Evaluating the role of the Leader of the Iranian Revolution in supporting Palestine and the Resistance Front, Canadian writer said: From Day One of the revolution, (Ayatollah) Khamenei showed his devotion, uncowed by the assassination attempt in 1981. Even though US-Israel were conducting a cruel, illegal bombing and assassination war against Iran in February 2026, he continued working, becoming a martyr. Also from Day One, the liberation of Palestine was and is the foundation of Iran's international politics, now including the liberation struggle to expel Israelis from Lebanon. This principled policy has made Iran the target of US-Israel, who realize only Iran stands between them and world hegemony for US-Israel, the uncompleted genocide of Palestinians.