Khamenei delivers Friday sermon after 8-year absence

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered the Friday sermon for the first time in eight years. He spoke about the assassination of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, Iran’s missile attacks on the US base in Iraq, the shooting down of the Ukraine passenger plane in Iran and the subsequent protests.

Khamenei called the events of the last two weeks “bitter sweet” for Iran. He described the large turnout for Soleimani’s funeral in Iran a “a day of God,” a term from the Quran that suggests events or days in which God’s power can be witnessed, according to Khamenei. The missile strikes on the US Ain al-Asad base were also a “day of God,” Khamenei said.