Iran new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei breaks silence on Larijani funeral day — first public statement: killers will have to pay

Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued his first known public statement since taking office, on March 18 — the day of a state funeral in Tehran for assassinated national security chief Ali Larijani. Published on Khamenei's official Telegram channel, the statement as reported by the Guardian: Without a doubt, the assassination of such a figure attests to his importance and to the hatred that the enemies of Islam harbour toward him. Every drop of spilled blood comes at a price, and the criminal murderers of these martyrs will soon have to pay it. The statement is significant on multiple levels: 1. It is Mojtaba Khamenei's first confirmed public communication since becoming supreme leader after his father Ali Khamenei was killed at the start of the war 2. He has not appeared in public and is assessed to be operating from concealment given Israel's open targeting threat against him 3. The statement signals he is alive, in control, and issuing public guidance even while hidden — a deliberate signal of regime continuity 4. The explicit retaliation threat on the day of Larijani's state funeral reinforces Iran's multi-front retaliation posture alongside the IRGC Gulf energy target list Israel's defense minister Katz had announced that Netanyahu authorized the IDF to kill any senior Iranian official including Khamenei without requiring additional approval.