Iranian supreme leader makes first public appearance post war with Israel
According to Iran International, Former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif heaped praise on the leader who had not been seen in public since June 10 before his reappearance at a religious ceremony on the night of July 5.
'The fearless presence of Ali Khamenei in a traditional public gathering permanently shattered the delusional lies that paid pundits have been pushing. Time to wake up and admit that Iranians never surrender,' he said.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, called the reappearance 'the most beautiful image I saw upon arriving in Brazil' as he arrived for the BRICS summit, and added: 'With you, one can brave the seas.'
Mehdi Fazaeli, a member of Khamenei's office, wrote on X that "the mourning hall exploded", referring to the crowds' excitement for the reappearance of the elusive leader at the mourning ceremony held on the occasion of Ashura.
Public sentiment however, has been extremely negative with some even calling him out for his 'shameless' reappearance 'after sowing death and destruction in the country', vehemently criticising him for coming back.
Iranian Nobel laureate and lawyer Shirin Ebadi criticised Khamenei on her Telegram page, saying that while he emerged from his bolthole, the Iranian public who had no shelter from the Israeli barrage were left mourning.
"History will record him as a dictator of the same era as Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi, and Mubarak — but one who lacked even a shred of dignity," Ebadi said.
"Unlike other dictators who at least believed in themselves, he begged for power, and in complete contradiction to the ideals he once shouted from the rooftops, appeared on the eve of Ashura with a smile among a group of hand-picked loyalists saying they were ready to sacrifice their lives for him — while political prisoners and ordinary people had already been sacrificed as his human shields.'
Many Iranians viewed his appearance as little more than a sign of a desperate way to save face and be on the public's good side, with netizens derisively mocking him as 'Supreme Mouse', 'Spineless Great Satan', and accused him of cowardly hiding while making grand speeches, all the while using the public as 'meat shields.'
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