Khamenei vows allies will not back down

In rare public address, Iran supreme leader defends missile attack on Israel

Beirut

Iran's supreme leader vowed in a rare address on Friday that his allies around the region would keep fighting Israel, as he defended his country's missile strike on its arch-foe.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's address in Tehran follows Iran's second ever direct attack on Israel, and was also the first since exchanges of fire between Tehran-backed Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops escalated into full-blown war in Lebanon.

Speaking days ahead of the first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip and has drawn global condemnation, Khamenei defended the Palestinian group's "logical and legal" actions and hailed its "fierce defence" against Israeli forces.

Beyond Tehran, crowds of protesters gathered in Jordan and in Bahrain, which both have ties with Israel, after Friday prayers in a show of support for Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah.

In Amman, demonstrators carried portraits of militant leaders killed by Israel and posters hailing the October 7 attack as a "sign of pride, glory and dignity".

Nearly a year into the Gaza war, Israel has shifted its focus to securing its border with Lebanon, to allow tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by cross-border rocket attacks by Hezbollah to return home.

The Israeli military launched a wave of strikes on Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon, killing more than 1,000 people since September 23, according to the Lebanese health ministry, and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes in a country already mired in economic crisis.

The attacks have killed an Iranian general, a host of Hezbollah commanders and, in the biggest blow to the group in decades, assassinated its leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

Speaking to a crowd of thousands in Farsi-speaking Iran, Khamenei said in Arabic: "The resistance in the region will not back down with these martyrdoms, and will win."

The Iranian leader charged that Israel was a "malicious regime" which has "only kept itself standing by the injection of American support".

It "will not last long", he said.

The address came as Israel weighs retaliation for Hezbollah backer Iran's missile attack which Tehran said was revenge for the killing of Nasrallah and other top figures.

Iran's top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, visited Beirut and said that his government backs "the efforts for a ceasefire" that would be acceptable to Hezbollah and come "simultaneously with a ceasefire in Gaza".

The escalation has left people in Lebanon fearful that there will be no swift end to the violence engulfing their country.

In Beirut, 35-year-old displaced nurse Fatima Salah said people were "scared for our children, and this war is going to be long".

Israel and ally the United States have vowed response to the Iranian missile attack, which was largely intercepted but sparked fear in Israel.

Iran said it would step up its response if Israel counterattacked.

In Lebanon, Israeli bombardment has put three hospitals out of service, and on Friday a first delivery of medical aid organised by the United Nations reached Beirut airport.

Lebanon said an Israeli strike on Friday cut off the main international road to Syria, with Israel saying that Hezbollah was transporting weapons through the country's principal land border crossing